Rainforest Biome

Latest news: we're building an exciting new canopy walkway as part of our multisensory Rainforest Encounter: find out more.

Top 10 things to see in the Rainforest Biome

1. The Rainforest Lookout, which takes you above the treetops
2. Mangrove swamps bring a taste of tropical islands
3. The Rainforest Balloon, that lifts our gardeners up to the canopy
4. Our Malaysian hut, complete with vegetable plot and paddy field
5. Bananas - spot bunches of them high up in the trees
6. The waterfall, crashing through our South American rainforest
7. The plants that bring us cola, cupcakes and chewing gum
8. A mini soya plantation, the controversial crop found in all our food
9. Rubber trees, in everything from car tyres to condoms
10. Cocoa and chocolate - everyone's favourite beans.

We recently had two Titan arums – the biggest flower in the world – bloom in our rainforest: find out more.

The Rainforest Lookout

Take a trip to the top of the rainforest canopy and get an amazing bird’s eye view of the whole Biome. This jungle canopy is that last high frontier usually only seen by the most intrepid of explorers and scientists.

Please note that it can be hot up on the Lookout, and we sometimes have to close it when the temperature is too high.

An area of primary forest the size of this Biome is destroyed every 10 seconds. The rainforests are our life support system. They help keep us fed, watered and cool every day, they control our planet’s climate. If we are to win our battle against climate change we need to save the rainforest.

• Find out more about rainforests
• More on the Rainforest Lookout

The Rainforest Balloon

The Rainforest Balloon is a research tool invented by scientists for safe, non-destructive access to the rainforest canopy. Since 1999 it has been used in Gabon, Madagascar, Panama and French Guyana also at Eden during 2004 and 2005.

We’re delighted to have brought the Rainforest Balloon back to Eden to allow our horticultural staff to access the canopy for pruning and monitoring.

What is it?

The Balloon is filled with helium and has a harness to carry one person. It slides along a rope, which can be run at any angle through the canopy, or used with a ground based winch for vertical access.

The passenger moves through the canopy by pulling him or herself along the rope by hand, so it is possible to stop from time to time in order to conduct the desired experiments (observations, sampling, setting insect traps, and conducting analyses, filming or taking photographs) through a simple manoeuvre.

Explore the Rainforest Biome on Google Street View