In the multi-purpose offices of the municipality of Ravenna on Viale Berlinguer (next to the police headquarters), the first “Bee Garden”, a project resulting from the collaboration of the Lions Clubs of the Province of Ravenna and the municipality of Ravenna, was inaugurated.
The ceremony marked that the Lions Clubs of the Province of Ravenna achieved two goals set under the theme of the national Lions study “Save the Bees and Biodiversity”, i.e. 200 queen bees were donated thanks to the fundraising of 4,000 euros. to the flooded beekeepers of the Romagna area by the ARA Associazione Romagnola Apicoltori, useful for the repopulation of hives badly affected by the floods in Romagna in May 2023; In addition, thanks to the sharing of the project with the Municipality of Ravenna, the first “Bee Garden” in Ravenna dedicated to biodiversity is now being created here.
Gianfranco Medri, Lions Service Officer “Save Bees and Biodiversity”, emphasized that domestic and wild bees are responsible for around 70% of the pollination of plant species living on the planet, which guarantees 35% of global food production. However, the survival of bees is strongly threatened by environmental pollution, climate change, intensive farming and the use of pesticides, to which was added the flood of May 2023 in our Romagna, which, according to estimates, destroyed over 5,000 beehives. Medri then emphasized the importance of bee repopulation for Romagna and national agriculture; in fact, the human species could not survive for long without bees and other pollinating insects, as it is estimated that a third of our food depends on the pollination work of bees, the little queens of biodiversity.
Medri then illustrated the first “Bee Garden” developed by the Municipality of Ravenna together with the Lions Clubs of the Province of Ravenna, a project aimed at creating “gardens for bees” in the city’s green spaces, planting flowers and high nectar plants. and pollen content providing a resource-rich environment for bees and other pollinators; a mix of wild flower essences consisting of 59 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous inflorescences will be planted.