Exotic gardens Rabat - Nébil Zaghdoud The Exotic Gardens of Sidi Bouknadel in Morocco\'s Sale city is considered one of the best tourist attractions within the north African kingdom. The gardens contain several lakes, wooden huts and bridges, along with more than 600 plant species and 80 animal species.
Located 12km to the west of capital Rabat, the gardens are set on 18 acres, and were originally designed by French architect Marcel Francois.
The gardens are divided into two areas-
The cultural gardens: Gardens that reflect ancient traditions and culture, which enrich the visitors\' general knowledge about different civilisations as well as the importance of green landscape throughout history. The gardens of Andalus, China, Japan and Congo come under the same spectrum.
The educational gardens consist of plantations, bird nests and reptile cages, along with several species of animals and birds like African pink ostriches and Australian parrots. These gardens were designed to let the visitors watch different species living in their natural ecosystem, so they could learn more about biological and ecological diversity.
Construction of Sale\'s Exotic Gardens started in the early 1950s, but they were only opened to visitors in 1961. The house of the gardens\' designer, Marcel Francois, has been converted into a museum, exhibiting documents, paintings and photos for the different stages of work in the gardens.
The current director of Sale\'s Exotic Gardens, Ibrahim Haddan, said to Arabstoday that the Foundation of King Mohammed VI for Environmental Protection have signed an agreement with the Dutch government to build an educational tour-path across the Exotic Gardens that would help younger generations learn more about nature and ecology, as well as encouraging a more friendly attitude towards the green landscape and natural ecosystem in Morocco.
 Ietimad al-Zaer, a public relations official for the King Mohammed VI Foundation told Arabstoday that the new educational passage was designed to pass through the most popular sites in the gardens so it could attract the largest number of visitors.
 Zaer said the King Mohammed VI Foundation also had plans to make use of the ecological variety of Sidi Bouknadel Gardens in studies about the genetic map of plant and animal species found in the gardens.
Sale\'s Exotic Gardens were listed as one of the world\'s natural heritage sites in 2003, due to its considerable biological and ecological diversity, which includes otherwise extinct or endangered species.