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Eden Project: A case study in the interpretation of a tropical rainforest

Eden Project is a Millennium project conceived in 1994 and built in a former Cornish clay pit in the South West of the United Kingdom. Eden opened to the public in March 2001 and is a notfor-profit Charitable Trust. Its mission is to promote understanding and responsible management of the vital relationship between plants, people and resources leading towards a sustainable future for all. Eden is amongst the top five paying visitor attractions in the UK, has hosted eight million visitors and provides a ‘Living Theatre’ where examples of positive initiatives from around the world are displayed, explained and supported. Eden communicates its story through various media using a backdrop of great architecture and over 1,000,000 plants representing 5,000 species from many of the climatic regions of the world. The biomes feature plants, crops and landscapes from the humid tropics (Rainforest Biome), the warm temperate regions (Mediterranean Biome) and the temperate landscape (Temperate Biome.)

Eden’s aim is to present, to the widest possible audience, the need for environmental care through celebrating what nature gives to us. Eden’s education programme comprises major themes such as energy and climate change, food, nutrition, health and well-being, biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources.

The Eden Project communicates the importance of tropical biodiversity to an audience far removed from the tropics by showing a large rainforest in captivity. The Rainforest Biome provides the public with an unforgettable ‘immersive’ experience of the tropics, the plants and their uses. Eden has invited world class canopy researchers to showcase their research equipment and to directly engage with the public to highlight their positive conservation work. Eden Projects pollinator team, bands, artists and actors provided a fun learning experience for adults and children during the Summer Canopy and Jungle Seasons and a Canopy Conversation conference brought together leading tropical conservationists, natural scientists and politicians for the first time to share their experiences with the public and to network, debate and find solutions towards safeguarding the future of our rainforests. Eden Project’s Education team run workshops such as ‘Don’t Forget your Leech Socks’ and the ‘Crazy Chef Challenge’ which aim to educate children about plant adaptations in the humid tropics, the way in which indigenous people use tropical plants for their survival and the significance of plants to their own daily lives. Eden Project’s book publishing group endorsed the book titled Deep Jungle, by Fred Pearce which compliments the messaging within the Rainforest Biome.

A new ornamental hybrid called Impatiens ‘Ray of Hope’ has been bred using the critically endangered Seychelles endemic Impatiens gordonii as a parent at the Eden Project. The selling of this plant through Eden Project’s plant retail has raised money and awareness for conservation of rare and endangered Seychelles plants with fifty percent of the profits from sales going directly back to the Seychelles to assist in the conservation of their rare and endangered plants.

The Eden Project goes beyond its visitor destination by collaborating with numerous like-minded people from around the world such as Earth University in Costa Rica, the Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU) in Asia and the Ballabu Conservation Project in The Gambia. Eden has also received funding from the Darwin Initiative to undertake conservation projects in Argentina and the Seychelles. Finally through many projects such as Gardens for Life, the Eden Project acts as a broker to bring people together from across the planet. Gardens for Life supports children, young people, teachers, project leaders, families and communities worldwide to garden and grow crops in three continents, in the UK (Cornwall, Bristol and Gloucester), Africa (Kenya) and India (Maharastra State). This work aims to create a global community who understand more about the major issues concerning food which we all face today encompassing – food security and health, climate change and water, cultures, indigenous

knowledge, cooking, medicine, outdoor learning, participation, global citizenship, youth empowerment and inclusion.