Nearly 130,000 hectares of gardens are crucial for increased biodiversity in Flanders 

The current rush on real estate shows that houses with gardens are incredibly popular. Governments, academics and nature associations are capitalizing on this to get the biodiversity of gardens in Flanders to a higher level. In doing so, they share a lot of concrete tips and make recommendations. After all, household gardens take up a large chunk of Flanders' space. They account for almost 10 percent of our region. The Flemish Confederation of Construction, together with VLARIO and department of environment, has also developed a tool to make your plot climate-proof with a lot of attention for more biodiversity: the green-blue level.

During Forest Week in mid-October, Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir issued a bilan. She recently announced that nature associations, local governments and private partners have jointly found 1,000 hectares of land for additional forest. This means one-fourth of the target for this legislature has been met. Household gardens can also play an important role for more biodiversity in our region. After all, these make up almost 10 percent of the Flemish surface area or almost 130,000 ha. 

Tips and advice

That is why Natuurpunt, the scientific partnership 'My Garden Lab' and the Flemish government have been offering concrete tips, detailed recommendations and professional advice for some time now to get the biodiversity in our gardens to a higher level. Furthermore, the Flemish government has made an exploratory study: 'Making scattered buildings sustainable, how do you do that?' In it you will find a series of recipes for strengthening gardens and making them fit in with existing green and blue accents in the surrounding landscape. These include replacing fences with living hedges, tips for extensive management such as mowing certain parts less and adapted, native and climate-resistant vegetation, softening, local water retention, and so on.

Greenblue level

In addition, VLARIO, the Department of the Environment and the Flemish Confederation of Construction launched the green-blue level at the end of September. By determining the green-blue level you find out how climate-proof your home and garden are and how this can be made greener and bluer. After you enter the information about your plot (including the surface of your roof, the type of roof, presence and content of a cistern, what greenery you have in your garden, ...), you get a score ranging from A to F, and you receive a number of suggestions to improve this level.