Source: Cool Earth
This year's Chelsea Flower Show has been tinged with the exotic by the inclusion of two rainforest gardens.
Aimed at highlighting the deforestation and destruction of the world's rainforests, the two gardens are sponsored by the World Land Trust and chocolate producer Green and Blacks.The Green and Blacks garden aims to "raise awareness of rainforests beyond the Amazon and highlight the pressures faced by all those who live in them," said designer Jane Owen on the garden website.
She said the inspiration for the garden came from a trip to southern Cameroon on which she witnessed deforestation and the impact of rainforest development first hand.
Some 830,000 hectares of the local rainforest is set to be logged, she said, with plans for a new nickel and colbalt mine due to devastate the area further.
A group of four indigenous women from the region will be on hand at the flower show to talk visitors through the issues impacting their communities. The four have also built a leaf house which forms the centre of the garden.