An enclave of unspoiled nature within the Jardin des Plantes, the Ecological Garden welcomes the fauna and flora of the greater Parisian region. All the ecological diversity of the Paris Basin is represented in its four forest environments and its seven open environments.

A WILD GARDEN
Created in 1932 on the initiative of Pierre Allorge, a professor of botany at the museum, and Camille Guinet, a horticultural engineer at the Jardin des Plantes, the Jardin Écologique is an enclosure devoted to the natural environments of the Île-de-France (the greater Parisian region). The area around Paris has been populated since prehistoric times, and humans have played a central role in the formation of the landscapes and the various relationships between the plants that grow here. The Jardin Écologique presents the biodiversity of the Île-de-France with a wide variety of environments. It shelters a range of animals, both settled and migratory, which find a privileged place to feed and reproduce here. To preserve their peace, the gardeners do as little as possible to disturb the natural balance in this ecological sanctuary. The garden is a fragile environment, and can only be visited by guided tour, in order to preserve its delicate balance.

THE ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF THE ENTIRE ÎLE-DE-FRANCE REGION IN THE HEART OF PARIS
Opened to the public until 1960, the Jardin Écologique (Ecological Garden) was closed and left to its own devices until 1982, which saw the start of a succession of inventories and renovation projects that would lead to its reopening in 2004. The intervening period allowed a great many insects, molluscs, small mammals and birds to flourish. The garden is now home to four forest environments: an oak and ash wood on calcareous soil, an oak and hornbeam wood on rich damp soil, an oak and chestnut wood on acid soil and an elm wood on moist soil with plenty of nitrates. The non-forested area is made up of a field cultivated with cereals using gentle practices that promote the flowering of a procession of harvest flora such as poppies, cornflowers and corn-cockles. To create this unique garden, it was necessary to modify the soil and collect species according to their preferred habitats. The plants do not grow at random: they are grouped together according to their ecological requirements to form plant groups. Involving significant work, each redevelopment stage also has to be carried out in a way that disturbs the wildlife as little as possible!

A GUIDED TOUR OF THE FLORA AND FAUNA
During this guided tour, visitors will walk across a hay meadow and an area of wilderness, illustrating the various stages of the spontaneous way in which flora takes back an environment abandoned by humans. Visitors will also skirt a patch of heath and learn about the particular plants that grow in the pools that form on the slabs of sandstone that make up the geology of Fontainebleau. These reservoirs of water are temporary: they are formed in the depressions of the rocks and dry up during the summer. Further on, visitors will come across a vineyard and its succession of bulbous specious (gagea, ornithogalum umbellatum, rare wild tulips, etc.) as they walk towards another pool with damp banks, a fragile environment rich in protected plants.

Picturesque garden in the Jardin des Plantes that features thousands of mountain plants.

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Alpine Garden

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Alpine Garden

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