Together with the foundation NatureLife-International, EDEKA Southwest launched their annual competition for excellent conservation projects, keeping with the theme "Our Home & Nature". Projects which are addressing preservation, creation, renaturation and protection of habitats and biotopes for wild animals and plants are priced and supported.
In the long run, a biotope network like this is supposed to establish in the sales territory of EDEKA Southwest, which in turn will improve the cultural landscape in Southwestern Germany. More than 60 projects from that region were aided since 2014.
A jury, consisting of representatives of EDEKA Southwest and NatureLife-Infernational, is judging the applications and selects the best ideas. Those projects will then be supported with up to 5,000 Euro. This operation is further promoted by the sale of potted herbs by EDEKA's regional brand 'Unsere Heimat - echt & gut'. Parts of the proceeds will be added to the funding pool.
The private initiative "Streuobstwiesenretter", included in the nature conservation association Einhausen e.V., was rewarded with 2,000 Euro. With their project to save fruit varieties they were one of this years' winners.
The reason for the launch of this project was a slow and often times overlooked reduction of meadow orchards as well as the loss of regional varieties from the Bergstraße-Odenwald area. The goal of this initiative is to excite teenagers, young adults as well as families with children for this important and diverse issue. The "Streuobstwiesenretter" ('savers of meadow orchards') made it their duty to save the existing and valuable traditional fruit varieties from extinction. To achieve this, different varieties which are deemed worthy of preservation are chosen, refined in cooperation with tree nurseries and re-cultivated in project areas. During the winter of 2015/2016, 200 trees were planted throughout the region.
The Streuobstwiesenretter want to use the money they won for further plantings of endangered plants on their project fields in Bensheim and Einhausen, for the development of a newsletter for the care for meadow orchards throughout the year, for purchasing needed tools and the installation of information panels and variety plates along their meadow orcharding educational trail.
The Edeka store Brand in Weinheim has started a sponsorship for the project. When the cheque was handed over, Florian Schumacher, executive president of the nature conservation association Einhausen, thanked the merchant Jürgen Thomas Brand and Roland Metzner, regional director of sales at EDEKA Southwest, for the support. "This project is very important to us, because we want to get involved for our regional foods," said Michaela Meyer, division manager sustainability for EDEKA Southwest. "The announcement and the involvement of the public are important for this."
Source: Edeka