The Kleingartenverein (KGV) Flora eV has always been sustainable and ecologically oriented – here the free play of nature and insect-friendly wild growth is clearly preferred to geometrically accurate hedges and bushes, chemical clubs and property boundaries drawn with millimeter precision.
But now the association has gone one better with around 320 plots: In its project “Gardens for people, plants and animals”, the members, with the support of the Environment and Consumer Protection Office, thought about how to treat wild bees and bumblebees, frogs, dragonflies, butterflies and can offer rare plants an even better habitat.
Gardens are systemically important
This concept has now convinced the 15-member jury of the Cologne Environmental Protection Prize: It awarded the association the second prize in the annual competition. At a ceremony in the newly opened nature show garden within the facility, Environment Officer Dr. Harald Rau and Konrad Peschen, Head of Environment and Consumer Protection, presented Lotta Domscheit and Caroline Michel from the association’s board of directors with the cash check for 1,500 euros. Rau congratulated them heartily. “There are really great dates to look forward to, and today is one of those,” he praised. “We all notice that we live in a time in which it is recognized that nature is no longer something for weirdos and ideologues, but is downright system-relevant.”