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The Eden Project Eden has been created in a disused china clay pit just East of St Austell in Cornwall. The project brief was: "To create a spectacular theatre in which to tell the story of human dependence on plants." The idea was conceived in 1994 by Tim Smit of Lost Gardens of Heligan fame, with construction starting in October 1998. In May 2000, Phase One - The Gateway to Eden - opened to the public and in just 6 months half a million visitors had come to watch the construction of Eden. October 2000 saw the planting of the first trees in the Humid Tropics Biome. Phase One was closed in January 2001 to allow the final construction of the visitors centre to be completed and in March 2001 The Eden Project was opened. In June 2001, Eden welcomed its One Millionth visitor. At a cost of £86 million pounds the Project Team have created the worlds two largest greenhouses. They contain over 100,000 plants representing 5,000 species from many of the climatic zones of the world. The Humid Tropics Biome, the largest of the two (11 double-decker buses high and 24 long with no internal supports), is home to the plants of the rainforest - bananas, rubber, cocoa, coffee, teak and mahogany. The smaller Temperate Biome contains plants of the Mediterranean regions of the world - South Africa, California and the Mediterranean itself. If you are planning a visit or simply want to find out the latest information and future plans for Eden visit www.edenproject.com |