Conservationists join forces with the City of Bratislava to improve conditions for pollinators for Earth Hour

On Saturday 23 March, one of the biggest environmental events of the year - Earth Hour - took place. Hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world collectively dedicated sixty minutes of their time to doing something that benefits the planet. The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and the City of Bratislava agreed to improve conditions for pollinators. On Friday 22 March 2024, as part of Earth Hour, fruit trees and shrubs were planted in one of the city districts where a flower zone is to be created.

Earth Hour is back for another year and brought people together across the globe on 23 March. While in past years it has mainly been associated with switching off the lights, a new dimension has recently been added - dedicating your time to an activity that will help the Earth. After all, we can all do something good for the planet, with the WWF Slovakia team being no exception.

New greenery to appear in Karlova Ves

Conservationists and the city came together through their interest in supporting pollinators in urban environments. Miroslava Plassmann, Director of WWF Slovakia, and Jakub Mrva, Bratislava Deputy Mayor, agreed on joint onsite activities as early as November 2023.

Last Friday, the WWF team along with city representatives were planting fruit trees and shrubs, creating a new flower zone in Nad Lúčkami area to ensure better conditions for bees, beetles, butterflies and other pollinators. "Both the quantity and diversity of insects are in decline. However, due to the mosaic pattern of the environment, cities in particular have great potential for promoting biodiversity. The diversity of pollinators is extremely necessary and that is why we are helping to create a suitable environment for these insects in Bratislava, also," says Jakub Mrva, Bratislava Deputy Mayor responsible for Environment and Climate Change Adaptation and stressed that the city welcomes such cooperation.

"We cooperate with cities and municipalities across Slovakia, and we are delighted that the number of successful collaborations continues to grow. We can tackle environmental problems resulting from deforestation, water scarcity and biodiversity loss in the regions much more effectively. We are happy to have opened the important topic of helping pollinators," adds Miroslava Plassmann, Director of WWF Slovakia.

Everyone can join

Everyone can join Earth Hour. On Saturday 23 March, we all invested sixty minutes of our time in some activity that benefits our planet. We can go for a run, take a hike in the countryside, clean up our neighbourhood, take tote bags for Saturday shopping, or sort through our wardrobe and pass on our clothes so they don't get thrown away unnecessarily.

WWF posted tips on its social media ↗︎ for activities that people can do on this day (and not only on this day). One hour will be transformed into thousands of inspiring events for the benefit of our planet

For more information on the biggest environmental event of the year, please visit the Earth Hour website ↗︎.

The whole of Slovakia is slowly joining the Earth Hour

Every year, cities and towns join the Earth Hour by symbolically switching off the lights at landmarks, stadiums and other buildings. This gesture is spreading around the world and Slovakia is no exception. This year, many towns and municipalities confirmed their participation in the initiative, including Bardejov, Myjava, Nové Zámky, Senica and Piešt'any. The lights on Iconic monuments such as Trenčín Castle, Bojnice Castle or the Colonnade Bridge in Piešt'any were switched off. Just like last year, the Presidential Palace in Bratislava was also plunged into darkness this year. The list is growing, the current overview of the entities registered in the campaign can be found at Earth Hour’s website ↗︎.