Marseille, Marseille (FUA), France
City population: 1850000
Duration: 2017 – ongoing
Implementation status: Other
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Other
Last updated: October 2021

The public awareness campaign 'flowers for bees' was initiated by the French Apidology Observatory (OFA) and has taken place each year since 2017 (Ref. 7). In 2017, 100 000 bags of honey-seed - whose flowers produce pollen and nectar - were distributed throughout the national territory of France on Tuesday 20 June as "one of the biggest mobilizations undertaken in a day in favor of a species threatened with extinction" (Ref. 5). The city of Marseille wished to associate itself with the event by organizing a plantation and a distribution of seeds". A total of 5,000 bags were distributed in the city from 20 to 23 June 2017 (Ref. 1).

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Green playgrounds and school grounds
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Other
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Other

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Preservation of natural heritage

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity, Other

Project objectives

National event goal: "The goal was to plant one billion honeydew flowers throughout France in a day to strengthen the feeding of bees and try to save the species." (Ref. 5) "Borély Park welcomed, on an area of 10 m², the very first seed packet" (Ref 1).

Implementation activities

"The volunteers of the civic service of the city of Marseille and the parents of the children of all the municipal nursery will receive bags of seeds to be sown, becoming in their turn ambassadors of this noble cause. There will be 200 bags for the gardeners of the city and 100 bags for the 3 educational farms and 2 "relais-nature". The groups of children welcomed by these 5 structures will sow the seeds, from 20 to 23 June 2017" (Ref. 1).

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
  • Promote environmentally-sound development in and around protected areas
  • Create new habitats
  • Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
  • Take measures for ex situ conservation
  • Means for conservation governance
  • Raise public awareness
  • Public engagement

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Restore valued species
  • Public engagement

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
  • Non-government organisation/Civil Society
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children
  • Other

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality
  • Non-government organisation/civil society
  • Private sector/corporate actor/company
  • Researchers/university

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

-"With the French Observatory of Apidology (OFA) and the Worldwide Bees Foundation, the heads of operation "Flowers for Bees" sound the alarm about the extinction of honey bees. " (Ref. 1) -"The city of Marseille wished to associate itself with the event "(Ref. 1) Therefore, according to the information, the city of Marseille hosted this event and took actions to manage this event influenced and supported by the associations OFA and Worldwide Bees Foundation. -"The volunteers of the civic service of the city of Marseille and the parents of the children of all the municipal nursery will receive bags of seeds to be sown, becoming in their turn ambassadors of this noble cause. " (Ref 1) - "The staff of Aix-Marseille University (AMU) is one of the 100,000 ambassadors of this operation" "The florists and garden centers mobilized through the horticultural sector, also partners in this operation"(Ref. 5)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes ("100 000 bags of honey-seed - whose flowers produce pollen and nectar - were distributed throughout the national territory on Tuesday 20 June. The city of Marseille wished to associate itself with the event by organizing a plantation and a distribution of seeds" (Ref. 1))
... a local policy or strategy? Yes ("This action is in line with the municipal policy in favor of the environment and bio-diversity." (Ref. 1) There is a local charter for urban biodiversity (Ref. 2).)

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • Unknown

Type of funding

  • Unknown

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Increased number of species present
  • Enhanced support of pollination

Economic impacts

  • Other

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Protection of natural heritage
  • Increased appreciation for natural spaces
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
  • Other

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Ville de Marseille (2017). "Plantation de fleurs pour les abeilles". Actualités. Source link. (Website not available in 2020).
2. Ville de Marseille (2014). “Charte de la Biodiversité Urbaine de Marseille”. Available at: Source link (Accessed: July 23, 2020).
3. Website of "Observatoire Français d’Apidologie" (French Observatory of Apidology). Available at: Source link (Accessed: July 23, 2020).
4. Berenger, Marie-Cécile (2017). "Marseille : un milliard de plantes semées aujourd'hui pour la Journée annuelle des fleurs pour les abeilles". Available at: Source link (Accessed: July 23, 2020).
5. Ufarte, Manon (2017). "Marseille : un milliard de fleurs semées pour les abeilles". Available at: Source link (July 23, 2020).
6. Des Fleurs pour les Abeilles (2020). Facebook page. Available at: Source link (Accessed: July 23, 2020).
7. Des Fleurs pour les Abeilles (2020). "Citizen awareness campaign". Available at: Source link (Accessed: July 23, 2020).
8. Mennessier, Marc (2018). "Des fleurs pour les abeilles, saison 3". Le Figaro. Available at: Source link (Accessed: July 23, 2020).
9. Val'hor (2020). "Semaine des fleurs pour les abeilles". Available at: Source link. (Accessed: July 23, 2020).