Living environment

Biodiversity at the brewery and in the surrounding area

Groene Cirkels wants to see the return of bees to the landscape through the improvement of industrial sites, municipal parks and other areas of greenery, gardens, and road verges. HEINEKEN has 100 hectares of industrial site, and the natural value of 35 of those 100 hectares could be improved. A few well-manicured lawns at the site have recently been converted into colourful flowerbeds. In total, 6,000 m2 of grass sods have been removed, indigenous flowers have been sown, and beehive sites have been set up in ten spots. A beautiful garden is growing to cater for bees, butterflies and birds. It is a simple initial contribution to the improvement of biodiversity in the region. With its central location between Alphen aan den Rijn, Leiden and Zoetermeer, the brewery can fulfil a connecting role between bee initiatives of local residents, farmers, governments, and industry. This will help create a much larger regional bee landscape in the province of South Holland.

Alongside the bee fields, the quality of the areas of trees and shrubs could be improved to allow more songbirds to brood there. In addition, watercourses could be given nature-friendly banks, providing shelter for frogs, young fish, and dragonflies.