Imagine a Belgrade in which parks, tree lines and green spaces are not only good to look at but feed bees, butterflies, bumblebees and other pollinators all year round.
A city where new planting takes into account not only how a plant looks and what it does, but how much it means to the nature that lives alongside us.
With exactly that idea we filed an official initiative with the City of Belgrade to increase the share of melliferous plants and trees in future planting on public green spaces.
The initiative is backed jointly by the Belgrade Beekeepers’ Association, Silosi Belgrade, the GAIA movement and BeeCenter.
Belgrade is a city of bees too
We may not notice them as we walk through the city, but Belgrade is home to a remarkable number of pollinators. More than 200 species of wild bee have been confirmed on its territory, and expert estimates put the figure at around 250 or more.
There are also bumblebees, butterflies, hoverflies and many other insects that play an enormous part in keeping the city’s nature and biodiversity alive.
And all of them need the same thing, a city in bloom. Not only for a few weeks in spring, but from the first warm days right through to autumn.
That is why we want future planting to give more thought to melliferous trees, shrubs, perennials and other plants which, besides making the city finer, are a source of pollen and nectar for its smallest residents.
One small change that can mean a great deal
Our idea is simple: that a plant’s value to pollinators should become one of the criteria when plants and trees are chosen for public spaces.
That parks become small urban habitats. That tree lines become corridors for pollinators. That in every part of the year something, somewhere, is in flower.
And that one day, when it is decided what will be planted on a new green space in Belgrade, the question is not only „How will this look?” but also „What does this plant give back to nature?”
We believe Belgrade has the chance to become a city that shows how an urban environment and nature need not stand against each other. A city of people, and also a city of bees, butterflies, trees and flowers.
We want a Belgrade that blooms. And this is our first step towards it.
