Quaranic Botanic Garden
doha • The innovative idea to develop a Quranic Botanic Garden in Qatar is being influenced by Unesco's proposal to establish a network of botanic gardens across the Arab region.
Given the absence of a botanical garden in the entire Arabian Peninsula, the garden will be unique in its nature.
Unesco's Doha office, with the help of a team of architects, botanists, engineers, phyto-chemists and Muslim scholars, has already designed a concept paper. The master plan will be developed on the basis of this blue print.
As per the concept paper, the garden will have the living plants mentioned in the Holy Quran, including pomogranates, date palms, figs and grapes. The Holy Quran has reference to 50 to 60 plants. The garden will also feature plants of importance to Islam, such as medicinal plants used by the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him).
The development of the garden is also aimed at educating public about the habitat loss, oil spills, problems of inadequate livestock management practices and the preservation of bio-diversity.
The master plan of the botanical gardens will respect the two major landscaping concepts of the Islamic Gardening Cultures. The first is based on typical desert environments, such as the Arabian concepts of ‘wadi', ‘baadiya', ‘raudhas', sandy area and oasis.
The second is characterised by planned gardens, such as the Persian concepts of sunken flowerbeds, ‘gulistan(flower garden) and ‘bustan'(orchad).
The core of the garden will feature an orderly display of plants arranged in four quarters and divided by water canals, with a huge fountain at its centre.
The plan of this core will be enriched by sunken flowerbeds, an ingenious traditional system motivated by the need for irrigation to reduce soil evaporation and plant transpiration.
Around the core, each garden will conserve plants from different regional ecosystems; It will grow plants found on the coast, in the mountainous regions, sandy areas, gravel desserts, oasis and aquatic habitats, as well as agricultural plants and halophytes(salt-tolerant plants).
The idea of developing the innovative garden was influenced by scientific and cultural concepts from the Islamic garden cultures and from the oral and written masterpieces of the Islamic traditions, particularly from the Holy Quran.
Participating in various scientific symposia, many experts had cited the need of Arab regions developing Quranic Botanic Gardens, Herbaria and Seed Banks.
Given the absence of a botanical garden in the entire Arabian Peninsula, the garden will be unique in its nature.
Unesco's Doha office, with the help of a team of architects, botanists, engineers, phyto-chemists and Muslim scholars, has already designed a concept paper. The master plan will be developed on the basis of this blue print.
As per the concept paper, the garden will have the living plants mentioned in the Holy Quran, including pomogranates, date palms, figs and grapes. The Holy Quran has reference to 50 to 60 plants. The garden will also feature plants of importance to Islam, such as medicinal plants used by the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him).
The development of the garden is also aimed at educating public about the habitat loss, oil spills, problems of inadequate livestock management practices and the preservation of bio-diversity.
The master plan of the botanical gardens will respect the two major landscaping concepts of the Islamic Gardening Cultures. The first is based on typical desert environments, such as the Arabian concepts of ‘wadi', ‘baadiya', ‘raudhas', sandy area and oasis.
The second is characterised by planned gardens, such as the Persian concepts of sunken flowerbeds, ‘gulistan(flower garden) and ‘bustan'(orchad).
The core of the garden will feature an orderly display of plants arranged in four quarters and divided by water canals, with a huge fountain at its centre.
The plan of this core will be enriched by sunken flowerbeds, an ingenious traditional system motivated by the need for irrigation to reduce soil evaporation and plant transpiration.
Around the core, each garden will conserve plants from different regional ecosystems; It will grow plants found on the coast, in the mountainous regions, sandy areas, gravel desserts, oasis and aquatic habitats, as well as agricultural plants and halophytes(salt-tolerant plants).
The idea of developing the innovative garden was influenced by scientific and cultural concepts from the Islamic garden cultures and from the oral and written masterpieces of the Islamic traditions, particularly from the Holy Quran.
Participating in various scientific symposia, many experts had cited the need of Arab regions developing Quranic Botanic Gardens, Herbaria and Seed Banks.
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