Evolution of Pest Management Strategies in the Rain-forest Biome at the Eden Project, the First 10 Years

The Eden Project was designed as a world class visitor destination to celebrate the interdependence of plants and people and to educate people about the need to care for the world that cares for them (Smit, 2001). Eden is not educational in a formal or prescribed way, but aims to communicate and educate by intriguing and engaging visitors through stories, insights and ideas (Stoneham, 2004). The project site, located in a recently decommissioned china clay quarry near St Austell, Cornwall, UK, is 105 hectares in size and consists of two large enclosed biomes set in gardens (outdoors biome) along with an educational resources building (the core) and a visitor reception building (Figure 1). More details of the structure, great architecture and wider aims of the Eden Project can be found elsewhere (Knebel et al., 2002; Prance; 2002, Stoneham; 2004; Griffiths & Jasper, 2007). With two large indoor biomes covering the humid tropics and warm temperate climates, the outdoor biome with a range of temperate environments, plus several catering facilities, a warehouse and a waste recycling yard, the pest management at Eden is very broad with many challenges in all areas, but in this paper we shall primarily consider aspects of invertebrate pest management in the ‘rain- forest biome’ (RFB), although the underlying philosophy and procedures described apply to the entire project. The RFB covers an area of 15,590m² and, at approximately 50 m tall at its highest point, is one of the largest greenhouses in the world. Over 1000 plant species are housed in 23 thematic areas and these plants are colonised by a range of common UK pests as well as a number of exotic introductions that, in combination with a large-scale perennial mixed tropical planting, pose an interesting pest management challenge.