Eden Celebrates a Decade of Evironmental Education

18.03.11

Prince Charles has joined others across the country wishing the Eden Project a happy 10th anniversary.

In the video message the Prince says "what started as Tim Smit's daring and fascinating idea has grown into one of the country's proudest assets".

The educational charity, famous for its climate biomes, has seen 30 million people pass through its doors in the decade it's been open.

Home to not just a huge variety of plants and vegetation, the Eden Project's summer music sessions also attract a vast audience of people to the unique venue in St Austell.

It's generated £1.1 billion for the local economy and supports between 2,500 and 3,000 tourism-related jobs in the local economy as well as employing 700 people.

It's worked with 2,700 local suppliers and sources 87 per cent of its catering supplies from the South West and 82 per cent from Cornwall itself.

Dr Steven Brand, head of economics and regional development, at the University of Plymouth, said: "There can be no question that, over the last decade, Eden has significantly raised the national and international profile of Cornwall and the wider peninsula. The economic impact of Eden is clearly visible in economic statistics.

"For example, if we look at the main tourist-related industries in Cornwall over the last ten years, their employment growth has outstripped the national benchmark by an order of magnitude – Eden will have played a major role in that achievement."

Happy Birthday, Eden!