Czech Republic: Sustainable agriculture and bee conservation

The majority of cultivated agricultural areas world-wide is being strongly treated with pesticides and is also being over-fertilized. This has a negative impact on the environment and also on humans and animals. In order to counteract this situation it is important that people are being informed and learn about the many advantages of organic, regional and seasonal products.
This is why an urban garden will be created in Brno in the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Nadace Partnerstiví Foundation. This garden will be managed entirely organically. Traditional crops will be grown and cultivated with the aim of species protection. Old and traditional crop species produce a little less yield; however, they are more robust and can be reproduced. As opposed to that, the majority of seeds used today are genetically modified in order to increase harvest yields. They have to be bought every year and require heavy fertilizing, which has a negative impact on the environment.
Additionally, it is planned to breed and keep bees in the garden in order to counteract the problem of bee mortality which has increased above average during the last years among other reasons due to pesticides. This will show that bees can also be bred in urban areas. Bees are essential for life on our planet. Without them, crops would not be pollinated and would neither reproduce nor bear fruit.
In the next years it is planned to establish a small open kitchen where the grown food can be prepared in the course of workshops on the topic of sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition. These workshops are held by the Nadace Partnerstiví foundation, which aims at raising awareness of the topic “nature and sustainability” among school classes and adolescents. It is very important that especially young adults are informed about the problems concerning our environment so that they can positively influence things in the future. In these workshops and trainings children and adolescents learn in a playful way how important gardens and regional products are. They learn how to manage small gardens and breed and keep bees in an urban area.