The garden contains flora and fauna dating to the 1830s.
After five years of restoration, the Jardin d’Essai du Hamma botanical garden in Algiers reopened in May 2009.
Closed in 2004 for reconstruction, landscape architects, botanists and horticulturists from France and Spain planned, designed and built two restaurants, restrooms and an information centre amidst African and North American flora and fauna dating to the 1830s.
Having become an area of disrepute in the 1980s, Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika urged the park’s management to maintain the country’s vital landmark.
On a site just slightly larger than 32 hectares, the botanical garden is divided into three sections, including an English garden, a French garden and a zoo. A newly established school within the botanical garden will train specialists in horticulture, an animal hospital will serve the zoo and new labs and science centres will provide support for the park’s operations.
“Because it includes a wide variety of tropical plants, the garden has an important role in protecting Algeria’s natural resources,” said a source inside the garden’s managing directorate. “The rehabilitation has positively affected the planted areas as well as the existing infrastructure.”
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