CHILE-SCIENCE-BOTANY-MINIATURE FORESTS

Tourists with hand-lenses observe the "miniature forests" formed by moss and lichen at the the Omora ethnobotanical park in Navarino Island, Puerto Williams, Magallanes region, 2,400 kilometres south of Santiago on April 25, 2017. The Omora ethnobotanical park, is the biocultural research center of Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. More than 1,000 species of mosses and lichens are protected in these archipelagos and at least fifty percent of them are endemic to the sub-antarctic region. "Tourism with a hand-lens" is the observation of these extremely delicate "miniature forests", an activity that along the seasons of the year offers complementary aesthetic and naturalist perspective for the appreciation of this peculiar ecosystem. / AFP PHOTO / Martin BERNETTI (Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)