French cosmetic chemicals developer Silab has kicked off a conservation project to track plant diversity near its Saint-Viance site.
In collaboration with BeeOdiversity, two bee hives have been installed on site and are managed by a local beekeeper.
The two bee colonies will gather pollen from about 8 billion flowers per year, within a radius of 1.5 km around the site.
The pollen will be collected during the beekeeping season (between April and October) and then analyzed at different times of the year, making it possible to define medium-term objectives for improving plant biodiversity.
“The fundamental role of pollinators in ecosystems is well known. However, it is the scientific dimension of the project presented by BeeOdiversity, i.e. to make a precise inventory of the plant biodiversity of the site as well as the territory, that particularly appealed to us,” said Paul Eguia, sustainable sourcing strategy manager at Silab.
Pierre Forman, Silab environment manager, added: “This novel approach will allow us to identify under-represented species and implement relevant and targeted actions that will have a positive impact on all ecosystems.”
