Through their NL Bloeit! association, Marieke Ketelaar and ArjanVerhout are planting wildflower meadows in the heart of the city. As ardent defenders of native species, they are also sowing the seeds of the idea that these flowers are crucial to the local ecosystem, and are treating the town to a complete makeover.
Marieke Ketelaar and Arjan Vernhout just love flowers. Romantic? Possibly. Eco-minded? Definitely. In 2013, they co-founded the NL Bloeit! association with a view to promoting and protecting native Dutch flower species in public spaces in the Netherlands.
These two green-hearted souls are doing more than just giving bees a helping hand. They see flowers, particularly local varieties, as essential to all other flora and fauna.
They work tirelessly to remind people of the Netherlands’rich biodiversity (1,500 species of local flowers), working in partnership with 32 schools, as well as universities and hospitals, to raise as much awareness as possible about the need to protect wild flowers. Marieke and Arjan have helped plant 2,500 trees and a number of sweeping flower meadows in the town of Nijmegen. Buoyed by the success of their initiatives, they set up a nursery to help bring yet more flowers into the hearts of both the town and its inhabitants.
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