Eden Project

Eden's new Rainforest Encounter

We have plans to create Europe’s leading rainforest education resource right here at the Eden Project.

Uncovering the rainforest

The Walkway immerses visitors in the rainforest’s science and stories. Take a tour…

Human connections

The Rainforest Encounter takes science out of the classroom and into the field

The Base Camp, inspired by nature

The design for this beautiful interpretation centre is based on the shape of a leaf

A new perspective on forests

Our Walkway builds on the success of our towering Rainforest Lookout

Explorers’ experiences

Ariel rope traverses, trekking trails and equipment provide a true adventure

The Sky Garden

High in the treetops, the Rainforest Walkway is a classroom without walls

A living classroom

The Field Station shows what people are doing worldwide to conserve rainforests

Interaction and creativity

Exhibits and sculptures show how much we rely on rainforests for products

Inspiring conservation

Rainforests are home to half the world’s species – the Walkway is all about inspiring action

Our Biome, the largest rainforest in captivity has helped raise awareness of the value of the world’s rainforests amongst millions of people. But we want to do more, we want to inspire more people to take action to conserve them – and we intend to do it by offering visitors a unique and inspiring new Rainforest Encounter, complete with a mysterious canopy walkway and an authentic expedition base camp.

The new walkway stretching through the treetops will take visitors on a journey of discovery. On this journey the story of the rainforests, their plight and their hope for the future will unfold.

Support our rainforest walkway

Our new canopy walkway will be an inspirational and transformative experience. A generation that does not understand or value the natural world will not strive toprotect it, but Eden is uniquely placed to demonstrate the vital role rainforests play in all our lives and to inspire action.

We're already half way to our target but need your support to reach our goal. Donate now and help us achieve this.

£5 could enable a schoolchild to take part in a canopy challenge workshop
£15 could purchase a seed for a new tropical giant
£100 could help us build one of the buttress root structures to support the treetop walkway

How to donate

Make a one-off donation or a regular donation on-line
Donate by mobile phone: text "Eden10 £5" to 70070
Fundraise for the project by running the Eden Marathon

What the Rainforest Encounter will include

Canopy Walkway
- At over 150m long and stretching through the treetops of our Rainforest Biome, the walkway will take visitors on a journey of exploration into the forest to discover its secrets. At 12m high, it will give visitors the chance to experience this awe-inspiring space from up among the trees.
- Throughout their journey, visitors will come across everything from storytellers and art installations to microscopes, telescopes and periscopes.
- They will have the chance to cross tantalising rope bridges, crawl through misty tunnels, and explore intimate pods – spaces designed to look and feel very much like the natural structures of the rainforest, which are home to its varied wild creatures.
- The snaking, organic, vine-like metal structure of the walkway itself is all part of the journey too – and we are ensuring that it’s accessible to all.
An Expedition Base Camp
- This is where groups – from schools to families – begin their Rainforest Encounter, before heading onto the canopy walkway. A far cry from a traditional classroom, this education space will be more like an authentic field station, a truly engaging educational experience.
- Imagine a beautifully shaped structure kitted out with hammocks, solar-powered laptops, lab equipment and mosquito nets. Inside, visitors will be able to discover what rainforest researchers and climate scientists get up to in the field, and attend workshops and talks.
Explorer’s trekking experience
- Rainforest scientists use many techniques to get around. Though the research outcomes are serious, their aerial laboratories are akin to working in an adventure playground. Working with rainforest research designers, we aim to install a series of aerial rope traverses integral to the Walkway; learning through play.
- There will also be trail routes through the under-storey where the adventurous can discover deeper secrets of the forest.

Rainforest is the glue that holds the climate of our planet together. Lose the forest and it will have devastating consequences for all life on earth.
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance