The sowing of the first wildflower strips in Clara Zetkin Park, close to Johannaparkweg, with a width of 3 metres and a length of 50 metres, was carried out by Leipzig's Mayor for the Environment, Heiko Rosenthal and the children of the "Marschnerstraße" day-care centre.
The other locations are:
- Rosental
- Friedenspark
- Schönauer Park
- Wilhelm Külz Park
- Palmengarten
- Arthur Bretschneider Park
- Auensee
- Löbauer Straße
Wildflower strips promote biodiversity
"Leipzig is not only a living space for people, but also for a wide variety of plants and animals," says Heiko Rosenthal. "The wildflower strips promote biodiversity and turn it into an experience for people. They are the result of a cooperation between the Department for Urban Green Spaces and Water Bodies, the Department for Environmental Protection and Eigenbetrieb Stadtreinigung."
Michael Mitterer, Head of Parks at Eigenbetrieb Stadtreinigung Leipzig: "The surfaces are first tilled and then the seeding takes place. The diverse wildflower strips need time to develop fully. Poppies and cornflowers are most commonly seen in the first year, daisies and bell poppies will appear next year and then salsify, field scabious and centaurea will also flower later on."
Sowing of local flowering plants, grasses and herbs
Local flowering plants, grasses and herbs were sowed on the wildflower strips. They make a valuable contribution to biological diversity because the increased flower variety improves the livelihood of native insects, which in turn serve as the basis for insect-eating birds. A number of different species groups benefit as a result. The wildflower strips will be at their very best in a few years' time. They are monitored and scientifically researched by Anhalt University of Applied Sciences led by Prof. Annett Baasch.