Royal Botanical Garden aims to preserve flora for next generations — Princess Basma

During a tour of the completed and on-going projects in the garden, the princess said that she tried to translate her passion in environment through the establishment of the Royal Botanical Garden, noting that she shared the notion with His Majesty the late King Hussein who encouraged her, and the garden was established in 2005.

The garden includes more than 600 varieties of plants and was established over 1,700 dunum with diverse physical and biological conditions, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The idea of the Tal Al Rumman area as the current site of the garden came after extensive scientific research and several studies were conducted by local and international experts, who discovered that the site contains rare plants in the world and more than 600 species of plants, she said.

The princess added that the main objective of the garden is to preserve the plants in the Kingdom, educate the local community about the environment, and raise awareness of plant cover protection, as well as to involve locals in sustainable environmental development. 

The botanical garden provides an opportunity for the local community to market their home products to visitors, she said.

The garden will generate some 130 jobs, with priority given to the locals who have benefited from the rangeland rehabilitation programme, according to Petra.

The garden will officially open its door to visitors and tourists in 2022, she said, noting that the announcement about the opening will be made after the completion of projects, notably the main building and service facilities. 

She projected that after the garden has operated at full capacity, private sector investors will start taking part in this “promising garden”.