Preserving and promoting biodiversity

Extreme weather events such as floods, water shortages and severe storms are no longer a rarity. On the contrary, they pose a growing threat, which is further exacerbated by the ongoing climate crisis. The REWE Group is also affected by such extreme weather events. Around 20 percent of its fruit and vegetable requirements are sourced from Spain, meaning that large-scale crop failures can quickly lead to shortages of fruit and vegetables. To counter these challenges, Eurogroup, a subsidiary of REWE Group, which is responsible for purchasing fruit and vegetables in Spain, among other things, has launched the TRES producer program.

For 15 years, REWE Group, NABU and farmers together for the protection of biodiversity in conventional fruit and vegetable cultivation. The interim results show the success: almost 500 farms are implementing nature conservation measures, over 17.5 million m² of flowering areas and 26,900 nesting aids have been created. Monitoring at Lake Constance proves the effect – for example, the number of wild bee species has doubled since 2010.

Exemplary: BILLA has created the highest quality flowering areas in terms of nature conservation over several hectares. This is the result of zoological monitoring carried out by the Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Institute of Zoology, on renaturalised green spaces at BILLA stores.