Green Circle Bee VCA Proposal
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t Y roen il----r' Cirkel Bijenlandschap Listing the Green Circle Bee-Landscape asa Propos Verified Conservation Area Submitted by Mw Laila Driessen Chainuoman Groene Cirkel Bijenlandschap Leiderdorp February 2016 VCA Proposal Green Circle Bee-landscape A. Executive Summary A sustainable economy with a climate and natural resource-neutral Heineken brewery as its icon, and a pleasant living environment in the region of Zoetenryoude in The Netherlands - these are the ambitions to which "Green Circles" is dedicating its efforts. lt does so by building on the cradle-to-cradle principle, but taking this principle a crucial step further by creating co-operation between nature and people. "Green Circles" is seeking to make solutions for a circular economy more sustainable by taking advantage of services provided by the ecosystems in the landscape. Such solutions not only make the use of energy, water, raw materials and transport less dependent on natural resources, but also create added value to the environment of the people in the region. "Green Circles" is an umbrella programme under which dedicated social networks, the Green Circles, are established such as for Water (Security), Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Agriculture, Energy, and the Green Circle for establishing a Bee-landscape. "Green Circles" is an inítiative of multinatíonal Heineken, the Provincial Government of Zuid-Holland, and research institute Alterra Wageningen UR. lt is keen to attract and gain the commitment of other societal actors necessary for achieving these ambitions and setting a world-class example. Pollinators are a key component of global biodiversity, providing vital ecosystem services to crops (apples (Heineken is a big cider producer)) and wild flowers. There is clear evidence for recent declines in both wild and domesticated pollinators, and parallel declines Ín the plants that rely upon them. Habitat loss and fragmentation, agrochemicals, climate change and the interactions between them have been identifíed as potential causes of pollinator loss. Pollinator declines can result in loss of pollination services, which have important negative ecological and economic impacts that could significantly affect the maintenance of wild plant diversity, wider ecosystem stability, crop production, food security and human welfare. The Green Circle Bee-landscape aims at the return of bees, bumblebees, other pollinators and butterflies to the landscape through the creation of a regional, cohesive network of ecologically diverse grassland areas. We do this by developing a social network of dedicated actors, helping them to create a common vision and supply them with information how to design in cooperation an ecologically sustainable networks for pollinators. This resulted ín the adaptation of the management of business sites, municipal parks, private gardens, field margins and road verges. 'Biodiversity at the Brewery' is among the first projects contributing to this Bee-landscape , in which we transformed the brewery terrain of Heineken to increase biodiversity, without disrupting the industrial character of the site. Figure 1: Bee habitat around the brewery of Heineken, Zoeterwoude VCA Proposal Green Circle Bee-landscape 2 This pollinator network called the Bee-landscape is unique and innovative by its size, the involvement of so many different stakeholders including business and citizens, and the high degree of self-governance, based on the interaction between the social and ecological networks. ln this governance modelthere is an important role of information about the ecology of bees and other pollinators, the importance of a high level of species diversity to provide a reliable pollination service, and the need to create sites large enough for sustainable pollinator communities and interconnected ín a network to create a resilient ecological network for pollinators. This information connects people in a common aim and shared responsibilities to adapt their environment for better ecological quality. This resulted in a social network encompassing actors from science, government, businesses, societal organisations and area managers working side by side with farmers, entrepreneurs, beekeepers and citizens. This broad societal cooperation is unique in The Netherlands. Together they aim to enhance the number of honeybees that survive the winter, push back the decline of the bumblebee and wild bees to below 10o/o by providing enough food and nesting opportunities, at the same time increasing the attractiveness of the landscape by adding colour, and reducing the use of chemical pesticides. This should secure the future-proof pollination of agricultural crops and wild plants. B. Area characteristics and Manager 81 The area Green Circle Bee-landscape covers an area of 20,000 ha and is situated in and between the cities of Leiden, Zoetermeer and Alphen a/d Rijn within the province of Zuid-Holland, see Figure 2. L ii, rlr/llf , r, ril ;', r ¡ " ",,1,'1,rt,,t,,i.,,,, ri \ I'i. il1' { f.l tl, . ,,t ',i.,lL, ill,lrì 1l . 1,,.t¡l.r,lr,tl.. I'1,_.rr ;' l,lt.rrrrl'',1 âroene Cirkbl B íj enlondsc hnp /ìll'l ! r ,l i,lrll ilrI' ir.r.l 'll ll,'r.¡,,¡1,1. I I !l ll.ll.l, ' l;\ I : 1,,I rll .1 ' t,l., lt'.1'1.{tl fu rllrtl,, tt r"" rlrr¡'l' ¡r,,,1,i¡ r...rr. t, | 1.,,,,11{- ,t.,"¡t l "t " ,.'l lì rI '; jrr t.l l Figure 2: Location of the Green Circle Bee-landscape (Groene Cirkel Bijenlandschap) VCA Proposal Green Circle Bee-landscape 3 Coordinates Zoetenruoude Village: 52.121355 N; 4.497208 E The Green Círcle Bee-landscape lies in the municipalities of Zoeterwoude Leiderdorp, Zoetermeer, Leiden, Alphen, Kaag en Braassem and Teylingen. Zuid-Holland is a province in the midwestern of the Netherlands. lt has a population of just over 3.6 million and a population density of about 1,300/km2, making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. The Green Circle Bee-landscape is situated in a strongly urbanized area in between the larger cities of Leiden, Alphen a/d Rijn and Zoetermeer, with small villages, industrial sites, recreational areas, and a Natura 2000 reserve'De Wilck' in between, Alphen a/d Rijn and Leiden are situated along a former main branch of the River Rhine, called Oude Rijn, in a typical Dutch fen landscape: low-l$ng marshy land that has been converted into a mosaic of pastures and arable fields. The western part of Leiden city finds itself on the "Old Dunes", a former dune area that originates from the Holocene. Current Land-Use Municipality Ha Urban and Agricultural Water Nature and I nfra # industrial (Grassla nd) recreat¡on ln ha bita nts Leiderdorp 7228 391 534 72 93 69 26.800 Zoeterwoude 2196 238 7759 70 46 59 8.000 Alphen 5765 1159 3555 272 418 225 106.000 Kaag en Braassem 7224 470 5428 897 155 248 2s.700 Leiden 2327 1344 252 L30 344 189 121.500 Zoetermeer 3705 1652 707 254 683 253 123.500 Teylingen 3349 63s 1788 501 282 L3I 3s.700 25794 s889 r4023 2796 2027 1174 447.200 82 Area Management We work at establishing a new format for cooperative governance by stimulating a social network in which local and provincial authorities, companies, societal organizations, scientists, individual citizens and area managers develop a shared responsibility for creating a common ambition and designing a sustainable ecological network for pollinators, self-monitor the achievements and if necessary adjust the work in progress to better meet the goals of the bee-landscape. The main drivers of this process are information on what is needed in the landscape to create sustainable conditions and the shared motívation and trust developed by the network partners. This combination of self-governance of a social-ecological network and the large extent makes the Bee-Landscape new for The Netherlands and possibly unique in the world. VCA Proposal Green Circle Bee-landscape 4 Critical to this cooperation is the shared feeling of urgency for action to halt the loss of honeybees and wild pollinators, and that it is through only large scale and long term cooperation that this can be achieved. Already entered into the Green Circle Bee-landscape social network are: . The municipalities in the region, i.e. Alphen a/d Rijn, Zoetermeer, Leiden, Leiderdorp and Zoetenruoude, . The province of Zuid-Holland, . The regional water management body ('hoogheemraadschap') Rijnland, . Natíonal water and infra management authority Rijkswaterstaat . Heineken Nederland B.V. and AkzoNobel B.V. representing business in the region . Alterra, the national biodiversity centre Naturalis, the Vlinderstichting and the Stichting EIS representing science . The beekeepers society Leiden en omstreken, . The non-governmental organizations lVN, ANV de Groene Klaver, Zuid-Hollands Landschap, . Societal organization Fonds 1818. Mrs. Laila Driessen, mayor of Leiderdorp is chairwoman of the Green Circle. The Stichting Wijk en Wouden provides the secretariat services, co-financed by the Province of Zuid-Holland and Fonds 1818. Names and contact details of persons that could be contacted Mrs. Hannie Korthof, program leader Green Circle Bee-Landscape H.Korthof@odwh.nl ; +31 6524431 66 Mr. Menko Wiersema; prov of South Holland Mu.wierse ma@pzh.nl : +31 641 317 694 Buildino two different networks The basis of the self-governance is the building of two interacting networks o The physical network of inter-connected bee-friendlv areas which offer sustainable conditions for pollinators even under climate change regimes, where honey can be sustainably harvested, and which are perceived by citizens as a pleasent envíronment for living and working; o The social network of oeoole. bus s and reoional oroanisations that together takes responsibility for the realization of the physical network of bee- friendly areas. This network is driven by the shared feeling of urgency and the cooperation within the network is by information on sustainable conditions for pollinators (size of core areas and connectivity), including feed-back information on progress.