Truth and Independence

Giraffe Hero Hendrik Haers

Todays podcast is taken our look to a green desert– meaning an area without diversified culture – meaning no food for insects to survive. Hendrik Haers, my guest today, is living in the centre of a village built in such a green desert – where there’s hardly any ground left that the village autorities don’t sell for building. Therefore Henrik decided to gather all his power to plant as much trees as possible and create an awareness. He’s also sharing his story of how he learned to become a classic beekeeper and how he change from traditional to natural beekeeping. After that, the number of beehives increased surprisingly “without doing anything”.

Climate change Bees. beekeeping, bee colonies Varroa mite: Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis. The Varroa mite can reproduce only in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking fat bodies. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/breeders-toughen-bees-resist-deadly-mites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee https://wemakeit.com/projects/climate-adaptation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive#Bee_gums https://www.bienenjournal.de/imkerpraxis/fachberichte/imkern-in-klotzbeute-und-zeidelbaeumen/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_age#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Oxford%20English,age%20from%2055%20to%2065. https://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/19713-meet-bazz-the-canine-beekeeper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Aa56jut7Y The ways we can solve that are techniques of agroforestry and include nature in the farming process. Something you as an individual are not able to change. But together with a working group they’re trying to convince people to change this, to plant more trees, to plant more flowers. “Yes we can” was an organization called the “moss group”, a group planting forests. Through this group I got active as a guerrilla gardener. Our big garden in the center of Bassevelde is a kind of oasis within the green desert – so our goal is to increase our garden to the surroundings and increase the amount of food. The problem is bees fly up to three km so you have to create an awareness with the people of the village – that they help to provide more food. We try also to create awareness. Then also to convince people to plant trees in their gardens. So people can help if they only plant one tree in their garden. There’s an educational component to it also. We try to teach children, go to schools and create a conscience, how important nature is and that a bee is not something dangerous that stings you but something important for everyone. Usually children from inside don’t have this fear – it’s because we tell them so. Big beehive on the tree – we invite the bees – difference to classic beekeeping Especially in a green desert like this the idea is to leave the honey to them – to create a home for them, because there’s not enough for them. Bees like to live in hollow trees -but there are none anymore…So idea of the hängekorb is to invite the bee swarms. The only thing we do is to see if there’s honey to know if we have to feed them – otherwise they would die. But we don’t treat them again deseases nothing – and they manage to survive these – as long as we feed them, because there’s not enough plants. How comes the fascination with bees? First learned about the beekeeping and all the treatment and started to have beehives. Then got a bit disappointed but then learned about natural beehives and realized there is a way not to have so much loss and that it works without treating so then I liked it. Now I have too many hives for this green desert. So I have to think about if I should stop feeding them so by natural selection the ones who are more resilient to an area with less food will survive. What is your hope, what do you want to achieve if this campaign goes through? Overall awareness. By putting the hives, showing the people how it works. That’s what we want to use the money for – to increase the awareness inside the village counselors and also to fight against vandalism. Then the politics argue well, look, they don’t want trees, they take them away. We have to ask the people. The one thing I would change immediately if I could is reorganize the green department who’s there to supposingly organize the green areas etc. – and also invest in this green areas – not only do spots for building, but really create green spots and so on. As a village council buy all the green spots and plant things there. Message to the crowd: plant plant plant Guerrilla gardeners tend to work wherever a natural presence is needed. Sometimes they work outside of the legal system. Guerrilla gardening is a global ecological movement that focusses on caring for neglected public space. Welcome to Stick your Neck Out! The Podcast to restore your faith in Humanity. Every Tuesday you´re going to get the chance to get to know one of the Giraffe Heroes, who they are and what they fight for. We are going to present you Inspiring Stories of People Saving Our World, making it better. My name is Yampier Aguiar Duranona and my guest today is Giraffe Hero Hendrik Haers. A veterinarian who became a Tree and Bee activist. Greeting Hendrik Haers you gave up your doctor carrier to engage yourself in the struggle to sustain bees and trees, first and foremost in your local community. You are fighting in Bassevelde, a small rural municipality in the north-west of Belgium, to make an all-inclusive habitat for people, bees and trees alike by all possible means. Hendrik is a green activist, a guerrilla gardner. Frage….2 in der Aufnahme Thank you, Hendrik, for your visit. Next week Tom Amat is going to be talking to Chris Malins, a Giraffe hero who is a teacher and researcher and has been developing holistic nature-based educational ideas for teachers and children for over a decade. He also has a special interest in tree morphology and overall his educational work focuses on the importance of experiential interactions with nature for kids and adults alike. They are also going to be talking about Chris´s Green transitioning Program. Dear listeners, our Nature is at risk – through exploitation and climate change. Therefore The Giraffe heroes Foundation is fighting for climate adaptation and the regeneration of a healthy environment: we start at community level and with practical skills, naturalizing villages with trees and plants, reinvigorating the bees, teaching the crafts and the arts necessary in our times. With YOUR HELP we can give this work a greater impact and make it the start of a paradigm change. We are inviting you to come on board, be part of this struggle for the common goal, to keep the planet a human affair. If you want to be part of it, go to wemakeit.com, look for our Project: Climate Adaptation: the bees and tree initiative and have a look at the great rewards you can get while supporting us. That’s it for today. You were listening Stick your neck Out! The Podcast to restore your faith in Humanity. I´m Yampier Aguiar Durañona. We are proud to share every week inspirational stories from remarkable individuals. Stories that come from many different places. We want to hear your stories, too. If you'd like to tell us about your front-line hero, visit us at giraffe-heroes.eu. You´ll find the Giraffe Heroes Stories every Tuesday on Spotify, iTunes, our Homepage and every other place, where you hear your podcasts. Join us on our Social Media, We´re on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Join us again next week! Welcome to the Podcast to Restore your faith in Humanity. Welcome to Stickyour neck out! This week i´m your Host, Yampier Aguiar Duranona. The Giraffe Heroes Foundation has engaged for climate adaptation and the regeneration of a healthy environment. We have started a Crowdfunding Campaing. This campaign shall be the first in a series of events through which a wider audience shall be brought into the fold of a growing movement for a healthier, more resilient environment. Six personalities from Switzerland, Belgium and Spain join hands for a common cause: ecology and climate adaptation. With YOU, we want to support their fight and amplify their impact.

We are proud to share every week inspirational stories from remarkable individuals. Stories that come from many different places. Each Giraffe's story is unique with the underlying theme of overcoming challenges present in all. Take a look at each individual experience, and although each person is different, they all have one thing in common: Heroism. We want to hear your stories, too. If you'd like to tell us about your front-line hero, visit us at giraffe-heroes.eu. You´ll find the Giraffe Heroes Stories every Tuesday on Spotify, iTunes, our Homepage and every other place, where you hear your podcasts Join us again next week!