A new attraction opened at Kew Gardens on Friday, featuring 6,500 new plants and 35 trees.
The Carbon Garden shows how carbon helps to sustain life on Earth, the scale of the climate crisis and how nature can be used to combat it.
It aims to inspire visitors to take actions in their everyday lives to support the planet and educate them about how plants and fungi act as "natural allies in climate repair" by capturing carbon and restoring balance.
Kew said the attraction was one of its most ambitious garden projects in recent years. Work to build it was carried out this year, after Richmond Council approved the scheme in 2024.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said visitors with a ticket to Kew Gardens can enter the garden at no extra cost and will see a colourful display of plants reflecting the dramatic rise in average global temperatures over time.
There is a fungi-inspired pavilion in the centre of the garden, with a sloping canopy directing rainwater into the rain garden and sheltered space to host school visits and community activities.
A feature also shows layers of soil, a rocky outcrop and a layer of coal in the Earth's crust with fossilised plants revealing the hidden world of carbon underground, the LDRS added.
Richard Wilford, designer of the Carbon Garden and manager of garden design at Kew, said: "The Carbon Garden offers a unique opportunity to showcase our ongoing research, combining scientific insight with thoughtful design and beautiful planting to highlight the role of carbon in our lives, how it moves through the environment and how plants and fungi can help us tackle climate change.
"We hope the Carbon Garden inspires visitors to act and join us in shaping a more sustainable, resilient future for life on our planet."
English (US) ·