How flowering islands can make fields barrier-free and connect habitats better than conventional flower strips
Freising. Flower strips at the edge of fields make sense and have long been a familiar sight. But just a few meters beyond that, the habitat for butterflies and wild bees often ends again. In many places, the distances to the next oasis are too great when a "treated" field represents an insurmountable barrier. In addition to flowering strips and natural habitats, flowering islands in the middle of fields therefore represent a small revolution in modern arable farming. This is because they break through the usual structures directly in the field. Using the innovative and biodiverse field advertising of ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU in the north of Munich as an example, we explain the principle of logo cultivation with native flowers in the middle of conventional cultivation and compare the habitat for insects with a "normal flowering strip".
The field chosen for the huge ground picture is located west of Achering (Freising) and can be seen perfectly on approach. But flowering islands in the form of ground pictures can basically be made anywhere. You can see them from a distance or with a drone, for example. You can experience them up close from below. With well-made logo cultivation, everyone can see for themselves the result and the meaningfulness, hear the buzzing of wild bees, smell the scent of the flowers and experience the wonderful biodiversity on a wildflower nature trail and show it to their children. And at the latest here "down" in the field, it becomes clear how much flowering islands create and connect habitats. A normal flower strip can hardly keep up with this. On the one hand, because they are usually at the edge. Secondly, of course, because the costs also play a role, i.e. special native rarities would hardly be affordable as seed. With sown soil pictures, on the other hand, every single detail is sown in the middle of the field. If, for example, letters are to be depicted, then each individual letter becomes its own flowering island. And here it doesn't matter much financially whether the seed mixture is put together individually and rare native species are also taken into account. A great opportunity for genuine native biodiversity.(Link to our flower list for soil pictures)
Short video: ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU flowering islands:
From the first green to bee pasture with flowers in the middle of the maize field. Habitats are now being networked with this soil image.
Advantages and limitations of normal flower strips
Flower strips offer numerous benefits for the environment and agriculture. They create habitats for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, promote biodiversity and provide protection and food for insects, birds and small mammals. They also help to improve the soil and can reduce erosion. For farmers, flower strips offer the opportunity to fulfill ecological requirements and enhance the landscape at the same time.
Nevertheless, flower strips often do not bring the hoped-for benefits. Many flower strips are too narrow, too small or poorly placed so that they are isolated and do not provide effective habitats. Unsuitable plant mixtures are also often used, which are not optimal for the local fauna. In addition, flower strips rarely succeed in actually connecting habitats and biotopes and thus building bridges.
The following diagram shows the effect a conventional flower strip could have on the example field in Achering. Together with the group of trees (top left), a flower strip would only provide a narrow and isolated habitat for insects. Only a few wild bees and butterflies would jump or fly over the barriers of fields in single crops. Flower strips are therefore often well-intentioned - as shown here - but are far from sufficient for the barrier-free networking of habitats.
Flowering islands in the middle of fields connect habitats and make fields barrier-free
Butterflies such as the peacock butterfly are probably a rather unusual sight in a maize field. Unless a single butterfly has strayed here and is desperately looking for an "exit" from the man-made field. But in the middle of the ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU field logo, peacock butterflies and wild bees can be found in abundance. Here, too, we are in the middle of a cornfield. But farmer Michael Pellmaier from Eggertshof, together with GEOXIP, has dared to do something completely new here.
Islands of wild flowers are allowed to grow in the middle of the corn. Many components of the ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU logo break with conventional cultivation and bring native flowers into the middle of the field. So butterflies have not accidentally taken flight here, but have found a biologically valuable, protected home. And even better: they are not isolated here, but can move through habitats without barriers. As free as a butterfly!
The ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU field advertisement shortly after sunrise. The wildflowers are just starting to grow and will connect habitats
The sheer size of the field artwork can barely be guessed from this aerial photo. But how large and worthwhile must this habitat be for a small bee or butterfly? Shelters with fragrant flowers and sweet nectar have been created here in the middle of normal agricultural cultivation, which are so large that insects can spend their lives here and which are so continuous that they can also open up neighboring habitats. The ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU field logo with its delicate flowering islands breaks through the usual arable farming and makes it barrier-free.
Here, life is allowed to unfold and be realized. And: life is allowed to pass through and wander here.
Logos with flowers in the field: counting insects brings reliable results that give hope
Anyone who visits a field logo will experience something that appeals to all the senses and is immediately convincing. Colorful flowers. Buzzing wild bees. Fragrant blossoms. And for some, an almost disturbing impression of what a paradise could possibly look like. Of course, many thoughts go through your head. And that's exactly what it's all about.
But field advertising with our flowering islands is also interesting for an absolutely fact-based and reliable scientific observation and university monitoring. After all, you can make a lot of claims.
Can insects really colonize new habitats in the middle of conventional cultivation? Are there more butterflies here than in the corn field next door? Can the soil pattern link habitats? Many questions that are now also being scientifically investigated and, based on the data available, already suggest that a real change and a small revolution in biodiversity could take place here.
Field advertising is a spectacular and courageous step for nature and our homeland
First of all: the advertising company is expressly granted success and media impact here. For once, the prerequisite for a wildflower logo with native flower mixtures is not a click rate, but genuine commitment as a nature sponsor. Advertisers must be fully behind the message and break new ground for such flowering geoglyphs. After all, field logos do not adhere to deadlines or specific RAL colors. Nature works its magic in its very own way and delivers fireworks in all the colors that nature has to offer. But this can happen sooner or later, depending on the weather. In return, advertising cultivation with colorful flowering islands is an extremely honest commitment that makes sense. Anyone can come here on their bike and with their family and see the project with their own eyes and let their senses run free. And see: What happens here takes place right in front of my own feet. Not in the distant Amazon or anywhere else.
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High-tech startup GEOXIP: Geobranding and success are teamwork.
Press release:
The Munich-based start-up GEOXIP is revolutionizing agricultural practice and the promotion of biodiversity with its innovative method of cultivating sustainable outdoor flowering areas (OOH). Instead of conventional flowering strips, which are often only planted at the edge of fields and thus create isolated habitats for insects, GEOXIP relies on so-called flowering islands that are integrated in the middle of fields. These "FieldAds" offer a new opportunity for companies to make their brand presence sustainable and ecological, as the example of ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU's field advertising in the north of Munich impressively demonstrates.
Flowering islands break the monotony of conventional arable farming and create valuable, interconnected habitats for butterflies, wild bees and other insects. In contrast to conventional flower strips, which are often too narrow and poorly placed and therefore only offer limited benefits for biodiversity, flower islands enable a continuous network of biotopes. GEOXIP uses innovative approaches such as "Vector-Seed" and "MultilayerSeed" to enable targeted seeding with native wildflowers at exactly the right GEO position. These technologies also allow specific native plant mixtures to be placed exactly where they have the greatest benefit for biodiversity, thus creating an optimal basis for networked habitats.
One example of the implementation of this idea is the ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU ground image in Freising, west of Achering. Here, a logo of native wildflowers was sown in the middle of the cornfield, which can be experienced up close not only from the air but also from the ground. The spectacular flowering islands not only create aesthetic appeal, but also serve as a real proof of concept where visitors can experience the diversity of insects and flowers up close. In contrast to normal flowering strips, which only offer limited habitats due to their location at the edge of the field and often inadequate plant mixtures, flowering islands create a continuous and barrier-free network of habitats.
The advantages of the flowering islands are obvious: they provide protection and food for a large number of pollinators, help to improve the soil and promote biodiversity in a way that conventional flower strips cannot. The "Vector-Seed" and "MultilayerSeed" technologies ensure that each flowering island can be implemented with the highest precision and species diversity and that rare, native light germinators can also be taken into account. GEOXIP has thus opened up a real niche in outdoor advertising, giving companies such as ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU the opportunity to communicate their brand message in an innovative and environmentally friendly way. At the same time, as nature sponsors, customers are making an honest contribution to the preservation of biodiversity - in a way that everyone can understand, right here at home.
ERDINGER WEISSBRÄU's field advertising is a prime example of how companies can use nature as a stage to combine ecological and economic interests. The flowering islands not only create a unique nature experience for visitors, but also show how a completely new approach to advertising can be in harmony with our local nature. This is a great opportunity for companies to strengthen their brand presence in the public eye and at the same time have a positive impact on the environment.
In summary, flowering islands such as the FieldAds developed by GEOXIP, using technologies such as "Vector-Seed" and "MultilayerSeed", represent an innovative and effective method of rethinking the potential of arable land. They not only offer ecological added value, but also a unique opportunity to communicate brand messages in a sustainable way. While conventional flower strips often fall short of expectations, flower islands create new, networked habitats and actively contribute to the preservation of biodiversity.
