Turkey's first national botanical garden to open in Ankara

HDN | 6/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency

Turkey's first internationally accredited botanical gardens will be established on the Atatürk Forest Farm in Ankara.

The gardens will occupy 2,000 hectares of land and will be operated and directed by the farm itself. The location will further include picnic areas and social facilities, while also supporting ecological research and development studies, Anatolian news agency reported Wednesday.

Plans for the National Botanical Garden project, which will cost 150 million Turkish Liras, were recently presented to the State Planning Organization. The project will be internationally accredited and is anticipated to become a tourist destination.

Local plants and plants and vegetation from other parts of the world will be grown in the botanical gardens by using different greenhouse and ecological techniques. At the same time, animals native to the various climates in the gardens will also live there.

The gardens will be located on the Ankara-Eskişehir road and are to be completed within five to six years.