Bees now have a garden of their own, where they are protected, valued and where they can flutter in a “habitat” created “ad hoc”.
It is “Il Giardino delle Api”, a special and innovative park, located in via Duca degli Abruzzi in Brescia.
CAMILLA BIANCHI, ENVIRONMENT COUNCILOR AT ÈLIVE
A PARK FOR THE CLIMATE TRANSITION
It was created as part of “Un Filo Naturale”, a Climate Transition Strategy developed by the Municipality of Brescia in partnership with AmbienteParco, with the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change Foundation and with the Parco delle Colline di Brescia thanks to the contribution of Cariplo Foundation and the Lombardy Region.
“In addition to increasing natural capital and biodiversity in a now urbanized area – we read in the Municipality’s note – these interventions aim to reduce the urban heat island, increase urban drainage and mitigate the effects of air pollution” .
Inside the garden, which extends from south to north, fruit plants, bushes and flowering meadows alternate: an environment that requires limited maintenance interventions to encourage flowering.
A path crosses the park and intercepts areas dedicated to different species, organized into orderly “vegetable rooms” allowing visitors to explore this city space dedicated to biodiversity. Large areas of the garden are dedicated to flower meadows which, thanks to their different colours, favor the presence of numerous pollinating insects (bees, butterflies, bumblebees and ladybugs). Within these areas insects can find pollen, nectar, and places for pollination and overwintering.
There are also rows of fruit trees (Quince, European Loquat, Japanese Loquat, European Plum, Sweet Cherry, Black Cherry, Sour Cherry, Marasca, Almond, Fig, Persimmon and Walnut).
They are “rustic” species that require very little care and are not normally subject to attacks by insects or pathogenic organisms. Furthermore, these types of plants are able to resist difficult climatic conditions and offer spontaneous and natural production of edible fruits for humans and animals, in harmony with the environment.
Inside the garden there are also various shrubbery, including, in particular, honey shrubs. The latter produce a high quantity of nectar, have an intense scent and abundant and very colorful blooms, particularly appreciated by bees.
The park is surrounded by a new row of mulberry trees located along Viale Duca degli Abruzzi, in harmony with the trees present to the north, in the Basaglia park, and on the edge of the agricultural areas to the south. “The mulberry trees, which – underlines the environmental councilor Bianchi – recall elements of the rural landscape of the past, also create a visual barrier, attenuating the impact of the road on the garden”.
Environmental degradation and the loss of natural and semi-natural habitats represent the main threats to pollinating insects, without which the reproductive cycle of plants would be seriously compromised.
The Bee Garden represents a corner of biodiversity, similar to those present in other European cities, which allows the flora to complete its reproductive cycle, encouraging its diffusion.
