SAUDI ARABIA was set to lay the foundation last month for the King Abdullah International Gardens (KAIG) in Riyadh, which will include the world’s largest botanical gardens.

KAIG will be 2.5 million sq m in size and one of the largest environment projects in the world, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Construction of this project is already under way, with the levelling of the site and fencing works completed. The gardens will comprise a covered section and an open area. The covered facility, which will be the largest of its kind in the world, will include two giant botanical gardens which will be five times bigger than the world’s largest geodesic domes at the Eden Project in the UK, the Saudi Gazette reported.

The outdoor area will include an open museum for plants, seeds bank and rocky garden, while the plans will also include research institutes, retail and hospitality outlets and a theatre, it added.

The development will focus on local plant life in the Arabian Peninsula.