Veneto, a bee house in disused quarries

A pioneering initiative combining beekeeping, environmental restoration and corporate social responsibility. The first site of the 'Bee Friendly Quarries' project was inaugurated on Monday 26 May in Valdastico (Vicenza), in the Molino quarry managed by Sipeg Srl (in which restoration work involves grassing over and reforestation of the entire area). This is the first site to be completed: the Veneto mining sector is thus taking a concrete step towards environmental sustainability and the enhancement of biodiversity.

The project, the result of collaboration between the Veneto Regional Beekeepers' Association and the Veneto Quarrymen's Register, is destined to become a replicable model at regional and national level. "A unique experience that looks to the future in a virtuous circle of circular economy," explains Roberto Ciambetti, president of the Veneto Regional Council. And for Gerardo Meridio, president of the Veneto Beekeepers' Association, the synergy between the production world and beekeeping represents 'a concrete example of collaboration for the protection of biodiversity. Bees are not only a symbol of environmental balance, but also a powerful educational tool for transmitting the value of sustainability to new generations'.

The association 'Apicoltori del Veneto', with over 3,000 members including professionals and enthusiasts, is a point of reference for the protection of bees and the production of quality honey. Thanks to a network of eight provincial centres, the association guarantees technical assistance, training and support for beekeepers, contributing to the protection of pollinators, essential for biodiversity.

The region has been working on the possibility that a quarry can become an economically self-sustaining generator of positive environmental and social effects. At the end of quarrying, in fact, quarries are required by law to return to their original agricultural use: through innovative projects, they can be transformed into strategic resources for the environment, for example as green CO2 storage areas, renewable energy production plants, aquifer recharge areas, water collection basins for irrigation, serving reclamation consortia, farmers and water managers. And they can become perfect oases for bees.

The Veneto Region's Register of Quarrymen, established in 1993 and legally recognised by the Veneto Region in 1995, brings together about a hundred companies in the mining sector. Marco Vaccari, president of the Register, emphasises how 'within the framework of the benefit activities promoted by our companies, there is a commitment to identifying and developing opportunities that are not directly mining, but functionally and territorially related to mining. This is the context of the 'bee-friendly quarries' initiative, which today finds concrete implementation with the inauguration of the first operational site, which will be followed by many other quarries throughout the Veneto region that have joined the project. All this is part of a long-term strategy oriented towards the multifunctional enhancement of quarry sites, particularly in the environmental recovery and post-operam phases. The objective is to promote biodiversity and create synergies between the productive function of quarries and sustainable agro-environmental practices, such as beekeeping'.