Musée de Tahiti et des Îles (French Polynesia) (PAP)

The herbarium was created in 1981 by the IRD botanist Jacques Florence. It has been stored at the museum since 1992. Around 15,000 specimens, and 200 flowers and seeds stored in alcohol, represent more of the 1500 species collected throughout the French Polynesian archipelagos and Pitcairn. Some of the oldest elements of the herbarium, dating back to 1847, were given by the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris.

History Musée de Tahiti et des îles - Te Fare Manaha is a territorial public institution which opened its doors on the 7th of March 1974 by decision of the Territorial Assembly. On the 30th of March 1977, three out of four permanent exhibition rooms were opened to the public, before opening completely on June 30th, 1979.

At the time, the museum was part of the Polynesian Centre for Human Sciences (C.P.S.H – Te Anavaharau), alongside the archeological and oral traditions departments. When the C.P.S.H closed in 2000, the museum became an autonomous administrative public institution called “Musée de Tahiti et des Iles – Te Fare Iamanaha”.

Five years later, the museum took its current name “Musée de Tahiti et des Iles – Te Fare Manaha”, alluding to both the existing relationship between Tahiti and the other 118 islands of French Polynesia, and the Polynesian traditions it is anchored in as “house of hidden treasures”.