The
Lamarck Garden project, created by Gilles Clément,
(in
collaboration with
Miguel Georgieff, Olivier Baert et François Mussart) covers an
area of 6000 square metres in an exceptional setting, with an
amazing view over the Authie Valley. The aim of this new plot is
to demonstrate to the general public the riches of the plant
world, just as the great Picardy botanist, Jean Baptiste
Lamarck, did in his time. Gilles Clément’s
project comprises three parts:
1) The extensive Evolutionary Garden.
For the first time in France, the major stages of plant evolution during the last 3 billion years will be on show to the public. Visitors will begin with the garden of the origins of plants, where the first terrestrial plants can be seen: mosses, lichen, ferns and fern allies. Then via the “evolution staircase”, they will find the first large trees (Gingko conifers), producers of the first seeds; then they will be submerged in great meadows of flowers, developing more and more towards perfection. A series of frescoes explains the improvements in the plants, through their development and their reproduction.
2) The path of ages.
Another staircase, parallel to the first one and below ground, will display a series of friezes illustrating the history of the Earth. Inset fossils will enable visitors to draw a parallel between the great events in the life of the Earth (climate, volcanism), and plant and animal evolution.
3) The thematic chambers.
At the top of the garden, by way of the final stage, visitors will be shown Man’s role in the mechanism of evolution, through one area on the theme of climate change (global warming, ozone layer etc. -in fact, Lamarck was the inventor of the National Meteorological Service), another dealing with soil erosion (drying out of wet-lands, intensive agriculture) and a garden dealing with plants of the future (hybridization, GMO).
This new garden will be a source of new knowledge to the general public and will make them aware of the need to respect the environment. These were Lamarck’s two main motives during his life-time.
“Man, by being too selfish and short-sighted for his own good, by tending to use everything around him for his own enjoyment, in a nutshell by just not caring about the future and his fellow men, seems to work towards the annihilation of his own means of preservation and even towards the destruction of his own species.”
“Système Analytique” JB Lamarck – 1820
