Two Italian cacti smugglers have been fined for illegally trading plants from Chile – and for the cost of restoring the environment. Conservationists hope more cases will follow

Chile’s Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth, a surprisingly cool environment, sucked clean of moisture by the cold ocean to the west. This arid, golden landscape is home to many rare species of cacti, which attract professional and amateur botanists from around the world keen to make discoveries and experience the thrill of naming a new species.

But they are not the only ones prowling the sands: Atacama has become a hotspot for succulent smuggling.