Inside The Miniature Forests Of Tierra Del Fuego

Every year, travellers visit Patagonia to marvel at its vast glaciers and huge open skies. But this miniature forest is so small, visitors are given magnifying glasses.

By Gideon Long

Every year, travellers head to Patagonia to marvel at the vast glaciers, huge open skies and soaring mountains. But at Omora Ethnobotanical Park on Tierra del Fuego, visitors are encouraged to think small.

Tierra del Fuego, a remote, windswept archipelago at the bottom of South America, might offer little in terms of animals and trees, but when it comes to lichen, fungi and bryophytes (the collective name for mosses, liverworts and hornworts) it is among the richest corners of the planet.