To mark World Bee Day, A1 Slovenija has launched a special campaign to raise awareness about how, through our lifestyles and our impact on the environment, we are increasingly reducing the space available to bees for foraging and nesting. In collaboration with BTC, A1 Slovenija has therefore made a symbolic gesture by returning 125 m² of space to the bees for one day. Today, passers-by in BTC City Ljubljana can expect to find nearly 2,000 seedlings of melliferous plants, which they can take home and use to help create a more pollinator-friendly environment themselves.
Bees and other pollinators ensure the pollination of almost three-quarters of all plants, from which we produce 90 % of the world’s food. Although pollinators are vital to our survival, it often seems as though there is no longer any room for them in our environment. Through the construction of buildings, the premature mowing of meadows, the use of pesticides, pollution and other interventions in the environment, we are constantly taking away the space they need to live and forage. A1 Slovenija has therefore used this year’s World Bee Day to spread the message that each of us can, with a small gesture, set aside a part of our own space for pollinators, thereby doing something good for the entire world.
When It Comes to Bees … Every Square Metre Counts
With the aim of raising awareness, A1 Slovenija, in partnership with BTC City Ljubljana, has today set aside 125 m² of space for bees, dedicating it to seedlings of melliferous plants. These have been planted next to the A1 Slovenija office building and in the car park by Shopping Arena A, where passers-by are invited to take them home, plant them on their balcony or in their garden, and give the bees a little bit of their own space.
“Every year on World Bee Day, we strive to complement our awareness-raising efforts with practical solutions that enable each of us to do something good for these vital pollinators with a small gesture. We believe that each of the nearly 2,000 seedlings of melliferous plants will thrive on the balconies or in the gardens of Ljubljana’s residents, thereby giving the bees back some of the space we have taken from them over the years,” said Blaž Ferenc, Senior Human Resources, Corporate Communications and Sustainability Director at A1 Slovenija and A1 Hrvatska.
“At BTC, we were delighted to respond to A1 Slovenija’s initiative and make space available for the bees, as we recognise just how indispensable they are to our environment and the quality of life. That is why we also have our own urban apiary by Atlantis Water Park, which is home to four bee colonies. Furthermore, by planting melliferous tree species and meadow flowers, we ensure proper food supply for the bees and other pollinators throughout the season. As we at BTC believe that sustainability must be fully integrated into the built environment, we also pay special attention to urban greening in BTC City Ljubljana. The wider area is home to more than 2,000 trees of around 30 different species, numerous shrubs and an urban park where more than 260 trees, including fruit trees, grow across an area of 12,000 m². Through such initiatives, we are contributing to a more harmonious coexistence between the city and the nature, and adding our own piece to the mosaic of promoting biodiversity,” said Patrick Vesel, Director of the Sustainable Development Sector at BTC.
PHOTO: A1
