Victoria Botanical Gardens

The Mont Fleuri Botanical Gardens Seychelles ( Victoria Botanical Gardens also called ) is a botanical garden in the Seychelles capital Victoria in the district of Mont Fleuri. The garden was founded in 1901 and around six hectare is the only one of its kind in the island nation and a tourist attraction. The Botanical Garden is under the Ministry of Environment, which also has its headquarters there.

History

The decision to create a botanical garden in the Seychelles was taken by the management of the archipelago on March 3, 1900. It was hoped thereby to assist farmers in their work and to encourage the cultivation of new plants. Background was the dependence of the Seychelles economy from growing vanilla and coconut products. The Botanical Garden was in the tradition of the " Jardin du Roi ," which had already been created at the time of French rule elsewhere in the south of Mahé and had similar aims. With the execution and management of the garden, who was born in Mauritius botanist and agricultural expert Paul Evenor Rivalz Dupont was commissioned. After his appointment as curator of the Botanical Garden, Dupont began on 4 February 1901 six workers with plant the garden. Dupont was also curator of the crown land and is responsible for Seychellenpalmwälder on Praslin and Curieuse. He brought from his many travels, a large number of tropical plants from around the world to the Seychelles, which today form the basis of the biodiversity of the garden. 1935 Dupont returned back to Mauritius, where he died on 20 January 1938 at the age of 67 years. 1956 visited the British royal couple the Seychelles. On the occasion of this visit Prince Philip planted a coco de mer, which carries one of the few outside their natural space fruit. From the organization of the park line today's environment ministry has developed after the independence of Seychelles, which also has its headquarters on the edge of the site. Originally created as a Botanical Garden Station is now considered one of the Park 's main tourist attractions on the island of Mahé. The original task of species protection is extended today to education in landscape planning, environmental protection and ecotourism.

Division of the Parks and Attractions

The park lies at the foot of the eponymous Mont Fleuri, a 150 m high mountain. The park entrance is located on the Mon Fleuri Road at a height of about 8 meters above the sea level. The highest points of the six -acre park located in an altitude of around 100 m. The garden stretches over a width of approximately 120 m along a middle road running about half a kilometer along the Mont Fleuri. There are 33 kinds of palm trees, to see them every six native. In addition, the garden is home to 66 species of trees and three kinds of screws trees. An indigenous animals Aldabra giant tortoises and Seychelles bats are kept ( Pteropus seychellensis ). In the upper part of the garden is located in a forest area of ​​one of the last pristine forests of the Seychelles.