Departments > Special Projects

The Garden of Plants and Nature in Porto-Novo

The ancestor of the Jardin des Plantes et de la Nature is the sacred grove of the kingdom of Porto-Novo. In 1895, part of the forest was changed into a botanical garden by the French governor of the colony of Dahomey, whose residence was alongside the grove. In 1905, it contained 630 species of trees over a surface area of 6,30 hectares divided into Garden 1, Garden 2 and Garden 3.

After independence, the decline of the garden began. The extension of the administrative buildings led to the reduction of Gardens 2 and 3, and to the total disappearance of Garden 1. Lack of maintenance aggravated the loss of biological diversity of the garden, which had become an inhospitable wasteland, containing only 300 species in 1998.

It was in order to end this decline that the garden was put under EPA management in 1998 by the Benin Ministry of Agriculture with a view to opening it to the public.

The Jardin des Plantes et de la Nature is now organised around two sites of unequal surface:

• the Museum of Plants: in the centre of town and covering an area of 2,2 hectares, it contains approximately 300 species of plants, which one can discover while walking around, or on ecological visits and various entertainment organised on the site.
• the entertainment area: only large cultural space of the city, it provides a quiet and friendly environment, as well as a number of services (bar, restaurant, recreation area) led by a professional team.

Opening hours:

The JPN opens at 13h on bank holidays
Closed on January 1st

Statistics:
Since it opened the number of visitors has never ceased to rise, and reaches on average approximately 20.000 visitors per year, i.e. more than 200.000 visitors to this day. We hope to double the number of visitors by 2010.

Programme Officer :
Achille Zohoun
Tel. (229) 20 21 38 66
E-mail.