DR. ISA FOLTN

As a veterinarian, I have spent a lot of time in recent years studying the health of bees and analyzing the threats they face from parasites, pesticide use, and agricultural monoculture. I have attended continuing education seminars on bee health and beekeeping, and have thus also become more closely involved with our environmental burdens. It became clear to me that we are all sawing at the branch on which we are sitting, and thus also that I have to change something in my life and also want to do something for our environment and our climate. My main job today is as a people and fashion photographer, and I also shoot on Mallorca from time to time. Already years ago I fell in love with the island and dealt with its cultural and ecological challenges. For bees, Mallorca has a lot to offer, as the extensive and varied fruit tree plantations provide them with an optimal habitat through their nectar-rich flowers. However, bees are not kept here according to their nature, although the deprivation of honey is a major contributor to bee mortality on the island. The protection of bees is close to my heart, but at the same time so is our climate and a healthy diet. So I have dealt with these issues in detail and found that a cultivation of the extremely healthy and therefore traded as a superfood avocado, climatically possible on Mallorca, thereby the CO₂ pollution can be reduced by omitting the long transport routes for the import and avocado trees also offer an optimal habitat due to their nectar richness bees. Based on this fact, I have developed this project together with Franziska Krug, which is intended as a pilot project for the benefit of our bees, but at the same time also contribute to environmental and climate protection and hopefully will find many imitators in other climatically favored parts of Europe.