Raising the Awareness of the Role of the Bees as Pollinators and their importance for the environment

On Thursday, November 28, at the Plant Protection Research Institute, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, together with the Agricultural Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Arab Beekeepers Association organized and the Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia organized the event on strengthening the awareness of the role of bees as pollinators and their importance in food security, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity protection.

The project is a continuation of last year's collaboration between the Agricultural Research Center and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia when more than 100 honey plants were planted at the Plant Protection Research Institute.

During his address, H.E. Mr Sašo Podlesnik, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Arab Republic of Egypt, emphasized inter alia the importance of bees as pollinators for global food security; every third spoon of food we eat depends on them. He also underlined that the 2017 United Nations' declaration of the World Bee Day (May 20) was the result of a Slovenian initiative and that the 'Beekeeping in Slovenia, a way of life' project has been listed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022.

Slovenia is actively involved in integrating the role of pollinators into international environmental policies and in addressing global food security concerns through its so called "bee diplomacy". The empowerment of women and girls and vulnerable groups is also an important feature of the Slovenian foreign policy; Slovenia can share good practices developed through pollination projects and beekeeping.

H. E. Ambassador Podlesnik also mentioned the long tradition of beekeeping in Slovenia and Egypt and its importance for the environmental sustainability, positive economic impacts by supporting rural development and promoting local tourism.

He furthermore presented another Slovenian initiative –"Honey Breakfast", or more recently, the "Slovenian breakfast". Its goal is to promote locally produced food and the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast, especially for children and the young. This year, the week from 11 to 17 November 2024 marked the first Slovenian Food Week, whose aim is to encourage the rediscovery of traditional dishes and the benefits of locally produced food and the "Slovenian breakfast" is an important part of the Slovenian Food Week from now on.

H. E. Ambassador Podlesnik also expressed his strong belief that this event is only the beginning of a fruitful cooperation among the organizers and between both countries, and that is in the common interest to extend the partnership to other relevant stakeholders, especially in the area of rural economic development.

The representative from Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia, Ms Valentina Cvjetković, gave a lecture of the Slovenian beekeeping and its skills and practices: The participants were exploring the possibilities of enhancing the cooperation on the bee researches field between Slovenia and Egypt.

During the event the children from Gharabia Governorate took part at the workshop - painting the Egyptian beehives with the Slovenian and Egyptian motifs, during which they learned about the importance of bees and beekeeping in maintaining the balance in the environment.