The year 2022 witnesses the start of a project which involves FOMAS SPA, the Regional Park of Montevecchia and Curone Valley, and Apicolturaurbana.it. The project envisages the installation and full management of a company apiary, consisting of four hives populated by bees of the Italian breed family (APIS MILLEFERA LIGUSTICA). In support of the project, a series of events dedicated to FOMAS staff will be held, aimed at raising awareness on the fundamental role that bees play in preserving environmental biodiversity.

Sustainability and the environment are issues which FOMAS has always been keen on; however,
from a perspective more focused on environmental art and not strictly connected to the territory where it is situated. At a time when sustainability has been becoming of immediate relevance and interest, FOMAS has taken a series of measures with the awareness that everyone must pool their resources to leave a cleaner world for future generations. The COVID-19 pandemic has also made it imperative to link up with the local territory and to preserve green areas, in order to fully benefit from them. Therefore, on these grounds, FOMAS has resolved to support the installation of an apiary at the Park, with the aim of making a tangible contribution to the land, the community and the ecosystem.

The first step in this direction was the signing of an agreement between the company and the Regional Park of Montevecchia and Curone Valley where the beehives have been placed. At a later stage, the company Apicolturaurbana.it was identified as the supplier for the installation and management of the apiary.

«I have always patronized the Curone Park, and the very strong bond with the territory has pushed me to create a project that could blend two apparently distant worlds: the life of a factory and the Park. And the apiary initiative reflects this goal as well as several others with an intangible value».
Jacopo Guzzoni, Chairman, FOMAS Group

The importance of bees in biodiversity

Bees are fundamental living beings for the environment and for the survival of mankind, above all thanks to their precious labour of pollination: FAO has estimated that 71% of crops end up on our tables thanks to the labour of bees and that the value added pollination for food crops in Italy amounts to € 1500 million per year.

Lately, pollution and the increasingly massive deployment of insecticides, herbicides and pesticides in addition to the erosion of biological diversity caused by industrial agriculture are putting bees under a severe strain, and also other pollinators lying at the basis of the delicate terrestrial ecosystem. Therefore, urban beekeeping plays a leading role and represents an asset and the added value of business decisions: urban areas, as in this case a park surrounded by several towns, have become a safe haven for bees, far from the chemical pollution arising from industrial agriculture.

«Today, urban beekeeping projects exist worldwide. According to the United Nations, 40% of hives face the risk of extinction. The practice of beekeeping in cities and parks is possible and it implies safeguarding them».
Giuseppe Manno, co-founder and the brain behind the project Apicolturaurbana.it

«The choice of taking up beekeeping represents an important contribution to defending the territory and safeguarding biodiversity. In recent years, the presence of bees and pollinating insects in general, has been greatly endangered by the use of pesticides that adversely impact their survival, with the risk of a gradual shrinking in flora reproduction. Such initiatives therefore produce their effects not only in the areas with the hives, but also in the surroundings, which will benefit from the pollination work done by the bees».
Marco Molgora, President, Regional Park of Montevecchia and Curone Valley.