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• Travel and Tourism
• Destinations
• Environment
• Havana
• Science and Technology
• 08 / 05 / 2007

Six hundred hectares dedicated to the most varied flora make it possible for the visitor to get a closer look at some of the worlds wide variety of plants. The gardens features sectioned dedicated to plants typical of Cuba and samples of tropical and subtropical flora from around the globe, as well as specific collections located indoors and outside, such as the palm collection. The archaic forest, with nearly 200 species of primitive vegetable formations is another favourite of vistors.

Development of the gardens began in 1968 and was based on the friendship between the young German botanist Dr. Johannes Bisses* and Cuban President Fidel Castro, who announced the creation of the Botanical Gardens on January 6 during the inauguration of Valle Grande, at the then Cordón de la Habana.

The gardens, which belong to the Faculty of Biology of the University of Havana officialy opened to the public in 1984 with the goal of showing tropical vegetable biodiversity and the importance of its conservation through actions and environmental education.

The garden has a specific scientific objective and thus counts with a highly specialized library and a conservation laboratory, where in vitro plants are cultivated of endangered plants, for example, some types of cacti.

The Botanic Gardens herbarium, considered the second largest in Cuba, has close to 200,000 samples with more than 100 years of existence.

A distinguishing feature of the gardens is the Japanese section called Kaiyu-Shiki-teien, literally translated as the Trekking Garden, an excellent place to let our imagination and meditation go free.

The Japanese section was inaugurated in 1989 and was developed by a well-known landscape architect and donated by the Commemorative Association for the Japan World Exposition, as a symbol of friendship on the occasion of the 30 Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

July and August are busy months for the botanical gardens which offer a varied summer program featuring clowns, puppeteer, childrens theater companies, plastic arts, sport activities and the traditional Forest Festival. This years Forest Festival runs under the slogan of: Trees are energy and a life source.

*Dr. Johannes Bisses arrived to Cuba in 1966 invited by the University of Havana and quickly became a highly trained specialist in Cuban flora.

Source: By Ana M. Lotti, Trabajadores