What a relief to return to the Beagle Channel where trees and plants thrive in the Magellanic forest. This is my second trip to Navarino. In 2003 I joined an Earthwatch expedition for two weeks of volunteer work to help the scientists at the Omora Ethnobotanical Park near Puerto Williams. This was my first visit to Wulaia Bay on the western end of the island. It is an important archeological site with middens of the Yamaná or Yagán people. Europeans attempted to bring Christianity to the people but were met with hostility.
The people built conical structures near sites of abundant shellfish. As they discarded the mussel shells around their home, layers of shells created some heat for protection. This is a modern reconstruction.
A muddy trail leads visitors to a lookout.
On the way back down the trail we encounter a beaver habitat. Canadian beaver were introduced in the mid 20th century to Argentine Tierra del Fuego. The idea was that they would provide a fur industry. Unfortunately, the beaver pelts are of poor quality. They destroy the forest by cutting down trees and creating dams. The flooding waters drown the trees. Unlike north American forests, the Magellanic forest cannot regenerate once invaded by these waters. There is no known method of control. It is impossible to hunt and kill the millions of animals. Injecting the trees with contraceptive material will only have a negative effect on the native animals, including the carrion eating birds which would feed on the carcasses.
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