Reconstructing Chile’s botanical gardens

In February 2024, huge forest fires destroyed 90% of the land and plant species. Workers were killed and homes destroyed.

We travel to the seaside town of Vina del Mar to find out how the country’s oldest and most important botanical garden is recovering.

The garden’s described as the green lung of the region, and used to be home to hundreds of different plant species, many of them native to Chile.

We’ve follow the gardens as they try to reopen and get visitors and tourists back through the gates.

Produced and presented by Jane Chambers

(Image: Park rangers clean roads after the fires in February 2024. Image: Getty Images)