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Faial Botanic Garden is open to the public since 1986. With a central nucleus in the parish of Flamengos and an altitude nucleus in Pedro Miguel, its mission is related to the conservation and study of the Azores natural flora, promoting scientific knowledge and environmental awareness.
In 2011, it was distinguished by Turismo de Portugal in the "Requalificação de projeto público" (revitalization of public project) award.
The Azores Seed Bank was selected in August 2015, by the "Botanic Garden Conservation International" (BGCI) as a case study on the conservation of rare seeds under the "Global Seed Conservation Challenge".
In June 2019, the extension of the Botanic Garden opened, which includes the Azores Orchidarium, where it is possible to explore a magnificent orchid collection and its interpretative exhibition, with several facts and curiosities about this extraordinary plant family.
When visiting this Garden, the visitors can get to know the rarest plants in the Azores, the traditional crops, a beautiful orchidarium, a collection of medicinal and aromatic plants, as well as the main invasive plants. The permanent exhibition, dedicated to the Natural History of the Azores Vegetation, gives emphasis to the archipelago, as a gathering point of unique plant species of different origins and biological ages, and explains the emergence of species and communities that only occur here, and the need to preserve this unique and fragile treasure as a legacy for the future.
The Azores Orchidarium’s collection contains a large diversity of orchid species and hybrids, organized according to their environmental preferences.
Therefore, several areas with different conditions were created: two warm greenhouses for the cultivation of tropical orchids and two shaded areas, with an outside space, for the cultivation of orchids from temperate zones.
This space was created by the Faial Botanic Garden in partnership with the company Agrozende, in order to gather the best possible conditions for the development of these plants. Every day, the staff takes care of each plant individually, in order to guarantee its growth.
