The Silk Road Samarkand resort features Samarkand Arboretum, the largest one in Central Asia. Its area is 120+ hectares. For example, the botanical garden in Tashkent is 65 hectares while famous Sochi Arboretum occupies only 46.4 hectares.
Samarkand Arboretum is split into 14 zones, each with own unique landscape. Before planting in the new park, advisers from the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan were conducting in-depth studies of various trees from all over the world for about a year. As a result, 20,000+ species and 250,000+ shrubs from Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands were carefully selected and planted.
In addition, the arboretum boasts 10,000 local plants, including the best varieties of apples, grapes, pomegranates and mulberries, as well as plum, peach and apricot trees. The fig tree park occupies 2.5 hectares.
300+ specialists from Uzbekistan, Turkey, Italy and Germany took part in the construction and improvement of the arboretum. This international expertise made it possible to apply best practices and fully automate the operations of the park. For example, the soil moisture levels and irrigation schedules can be monitored using a smartphone. And micro-irrigation channels created for each plant will help reduce the consumption of water and electricity by up to 50 %.