Sustainable Groningen asks residents of the municipality of Groningen not to mow their grass in May. The aim of this is to achieve more biodiversity.
The municipality of Groningen supports the national initiative ‘Maai Mei Niet’. The municipality itself is also participating. Experience from previous years showed that in places where less mowing was done in May, more flowers bloom and more different plants and animals are found than in places where mowing was more frequent.
Councilor for Nature and Ecology, Kirsten de Wrede: “A month without mowing can result in ten times more bees. And those bees are important for about sixty percent of our food crops. In addition, longer grass ensures less drought and heat.” “You can also choose not to mow everything, or not everything at the same time, that also helps enormously,” says de Wrede.
Road safety comes first and that is why mowing takes place in some places in May. The grass around play facilities is also mowed. From June, the municipality will gradually return to their usual mowing method.
