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Main » Articles » ISSUE #6 » It's an amazing world

Eden Project: 21 century garden

Have you ever seen rainforest plants, giant cacti from far hot deserts, rare flowers from Indonesia and Australia - everything that catches the eye of an eager traveller - in one and the same place? Haven’t you? If you want to enjoy this breathtaking beauty in one spot - go to Cornwall, England. It will be a holiday

of your lifetime!

I remember watching the project being built. Pavel Lobkov, a superb Russian investigative journalist, visited the site and made a stunning running commentary from Cornwall. I was surprised and astonished to see how a desert and unwanted patch of land was turning into a garden of incredible beauty. They say, the Lord created the Earth. In Lobkov’s programme it was the Man who created Eden on the Earth. I think, I ought to share my impressions of Eden with you, friends!

The Eden Project began as a dream. In the late 1990s, Tom Smith, an archaeologist, decided to build a new Eden. In his imagination he saw a beautiful park with huge greenhouses filled with exotic plants from all over the world. He even found the place for his park - a disused clay pit in Cornwall. All he needed was the money. Amazingly, many people agreed to help him and Tim’s dream came true.In the spring 2001, the Eden Project, a large environmental park in Cornwall, opened to the public. The press called it " The Eighth Wonder of the world”. Watch video here Innovators: Eden project.

Since its opening more than 12 mln people have visited Eden. It has become the country’s top tourist attraction. The Eden Project consists of two giant greenhouses, shaped like grapefruit halves, and an outdoor area. These are called "biomes”. They recreate the natural environments of three different climates found around in the world. Watch video here Eden Project 2010.

The Humid Tropics Biome recreates the jungles of South America, the hottest regions of Africa, Australia and Asia. It’s big enough to hold the Tower of London! Here you can find the smelliest flower on the Earth - Amorphophallus titanum, popularly known as the corpse flower. It blooms only a few times in its 40-year life span, but when it does, it smells of what have been variously described as similar to that of rotting eggs, a dead animal - and worse. It is taller than a man and can be found in Indonesia and … here, in Eden!

In the Warm Temperature Biome you can travel to South Africa and California and walk among orange and lemon trees, old olive groves and grape vines. Watch video here Mediterranean herb and vegetable growing.

The third biome is the Roofless Biome. This is an open outdoor area with plants from the temperate Cornwall area and similar climates in Chile, the Himalayas, Russia and Australia. It tells the story of plants that have changed the world and which could change our future.

Soon a new biome was built at the Eden Project. It recreates desert life and has the most unusual water gardens in the world.

Tim Smith and his followers see the site as much more than a collection of plants. The main purpose of Eden is to educate the public about how much we depend on the natural world and what we should do to save it.

AMAZING FACTS:

* One of the plants on show, the tropical bamboo, Bambusa gigantica, can grow up to 45cm a day.

* The Eden Project’s toilets won the 2003 Best Toilet in Britain award!

* Several scenes from the James Bond film Die Another Day were filmed here.

"Sleeping Beauty”         "Bombus the Bee” is 6 metres tall.
Category: It's an amazing world | Added by: Guzeliya (25-May-2012) | Author: Roma Naugolnaya
Views: 2534 | Tags: greenhouses, Eden project, Biome, Cornwall | Rating: 5.0/2
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