Hotels for wild bees and food for insects

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Leipziger Ökofete, Leipziger Wohnungs- und Baugesellschaft mbH (LWB) invites you to plant more than 1,000 flowers and herbs free of charge at its stand in Clara-Zetkin-Park on 16 June 2019. Children can also try their hand at building their own small wild bee hotels.

With this campaign, the LWB is raising awareness of the importance of wild bees and their responsibility for the greenery in their residential areas. With almost 13,000 trees, there is virtually a small forest in the care of the municipal company. A forest that has even grown in recent years. In some cases, the woody plants have reproduced wildly or young trees have been brought back into the ground, the majority of them in listed housing estates such as Alt-Lößnig, Probstheida, Neu-Lindenau as well as Wahren and Plagwitz.

In addition to the stock of trees, more than 700,000 square meters of lawns and flowerbeds are under LWB management. "This also includes wildflower and orchard meadows," reports Alexander Pank, Commercial Director of the LWB's caretaker business. Thus, wild grass thrives on around 70 open spaces with a total of 250,000 square meters, which is only cut twice a year and thus provides a good home for many insects. Pank: "Of course, when it comes to green maintenance, we always have to weigh up where more intensive mowing of the grass should take place". Playgrounds or laundry areas, for example, are only suitable for a high grass level to a limited extent. In addition, the wishes and demands of the residents are very different and have to be taken into account as well.

This year, the LWB is inviting people to take part for the eighth time in a major free planting campaign as part of the eco-fête. More than 4,000 plants have been potted at the LWB stand since 2013, including sunflowers, small trees, balcony plants and herbs. Anyone who enjoys gardening, even without a garden of their own, is welcome. More and more balconies are being turned into herb and flower beds, and windowsills into planting areas.
Every hour on the hour, guests of the largest environmental festival in Central Germany on this Sunday can pot and take small herbs and flower plants with them. Those who later achieve gardening success with their LWB plant at home and document this can win a voucher.

The winner is also the one who builds a wild bee hotel. Both activities are free of charge for participants. The stand will be looked after by the company's trainees, among others. 

The Leipziger Ökofete (16 June 2019 from 12 to 19 o'clock in the Clara-Zetkin-Park), the largest environmental festival in Central Germany, is the highlight of the Leipziger Umwelttage, which is coordinated by the Ökolöwe Umweltbund Leipzig e.V. This year the Ökofete is taking place for the 30th time. The LWB has participated since 2012.

About the LWB: The LWB is a municipal enterprise with more than 35,200 housing units, which has a market share of about ten percent in Leipzig. As a strategic partner of the city, the LWB implements urban planning and housing policy development objectives. In addition to management and administration, one focus of its business activities is the refurbishment of LWB's stock
and the construction of new apartments in Leipzig. A total of 443 (2018) employees work at
LWB- including 31 commercial and industrial trainees.

Your contact person:
Press Officer Samira Sachse
Phone 0341 9922-2110 - Fax 0341 9922-2009
presse@lwb.de - www.lwb.de