For years, Martin Gardner of the RBGE's International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP) had wanted to produce a book to showcase the beauty and rich biodiversity of Chile’s forested habitats. In 2007, Martin was sitting in the RBGE staff canteen when he was introduced to three visiting Turkish botanical artists. By chance, the meeting coincided with a generous legacy to the ICCP for their work in Chile. The combination of the legacy and the great skills these artists enabled this extraordinary project to finally begin.

After eight years of intense work by the artists and authors, the project emerged into a large-format, beautifully-illustrated volume with fascinating accounts of all the featured species. It was published to great acclaim: it won the 2017 Award of Excellence in Botanical Art and Illustration presented by The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries and was a finalist in the 2016 British Book Design and Production Awards.

As the designer, I was involved in the project at an early stage. This enabled me to guide the artists, authors and RBGE staff through the choice of formats, papers, printing techniques and how best to manage the tricky colour reproduction. Albe De Coker of Belgium expertly printed the book using their HUV press which allowed the vibrancy of artwork to be preserved, even when printed on uncoated paper (an FSC® certified stock made at the climate-neutral Lessebo mill in the forests of Sweden – adding further to the truly international range of this project!).