Spend time in nature and you might just be curing what ails you. Easier said than done, you might say. After all, the weather in Belgium isn't always kind to those who spend time in the outdoors. Those gloomy grey skies with the ever present rain clouds? How can they amount to any good apart from keeping Belgium a very green place to live? And what about all the puddles, mud and cold weather? It doesn't sound like the recipe for a fun time (although you have to admit, it sure looks like fun when you see scouts running around in shorts and muddy boots in the parks on the weekends).

Sunbeams is holding a free 'sprouting' workshop for anyone interested in learning how to sprout their own seeds
and beans for tasty, fresh and nutritious food that is easy to make at home.

Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 09:15 - 10:30

The workshop wil be held at:

Savoorke,
International Montessori School,
Bergestraat 24,
3080 Tervuren

info and registration: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

view all sunbeams events

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Sunbeams Nature Workshop - Birds in Winter

30. January, 13.00h - 16.00h,

For children aged 7 and up.

Fee: 15€

Learn how to identify birds that stay during the winter and how to attract them to your garden, nature walk with winter bird survey.

More information: www.lokilino.com

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Sunbeams has written a series of articles to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity. 

Join us to make small steps for biodiversity around us.  

Sunbeams articles on what you can do for biodiversity:

• main areas to do small steps - Sunbeams Newsletter May 2009 ( pdf 590Kb)
• small steps advice by IUCN - Sunbeams Newsletter January 2010 ( pdf 1.1Mb)

Sunbeams articles on biodiversity in Away Magazine:

• Interview with IUCN representative, by Leanne Halewyck [Jan-Feb 2010]
• Permaculture, by Dave Meyer [Mar-Apr 2010]
• You and me and biodiversity, by Ilke [May-June 2010] (available here soon )

Sunbeams article in Small Talk (BCT):

Celebrating biodiversity with children [June 2010] (available here soon)

Sunbeams Events related to biodiversity:

• 4 Workshops for children on nature and wildlife (as from October 2010)
• Annual workshop for adults on wildlife in Belgium (fall)
• Annual tree planting event (spring)
• Annual composting event (May-June)
• Build a herb spiral together with Sunbeams in your commune
• Guided nature walk in Zoniënwoud/Forêt de Soignes (in the fall)

Other events focusing on biodiversity:

• Natuurpunt needs your help to count biodiversity in your garden, weekend of 22-23 May 2010 www.waarnemingen.be
• EU Green Week, 2-5 June 2010
• Environmental Party outdoor in Jubelpark/Cinquantenaire, 6 June 2010 (come and see us at the Sunbeams stand)

Useful links can be found in all teh above articles, and here are a few more:
Check out the activities at the Museum of Natural Sciences and their focus on Biodiversity
http://www.naturalsciences.be/active/biodiv2010/biodiv2010_site
Order a little booklet with 366 ideas on what you can do for biodiversity in Dutch:
http://www.post-online.be/biodiv/nl/index.php
or in French:
http://www.post-online.be/biodiv/fr/index.php

More Sunbeams articles relating to specific areas of biodiversity:

• Biodiversity (!)
• Composting - April 2009
• Organic food baskets in and around Brussels - Sunbeams Newsletter September 2009 ( pdf 517Kb)
• How and when to plant trees in Belgium - Sunbeams Newsletter October 2009 (pdf 760Kb)
• Gardening for wildlife [Sunbeams Newsletter November 2009 ( pdf 560Kb)
• Saving energy - Sunbeams Newsletter December 2009 ( pdf 500 Kb)
• Precycling - Sunbeams Newsletter February ( pdf 600 Kb) and March ( pdf 1.0Mb) 2010
• Bees and biodiversity - Sunbeams Newsletter March 2010 ( pdf 1.0Mb)
• How to build a Herb Spiral - Sunbeams Newsletter March 2010 ( pdf 1.0Mb)
• Nature Nook, a new series on nature - starting in Sunbeams Newsletter May 2010

This article was originally published in the January 2010 issue of the Away Magazine.

This is an overview of beneficial plants and flowers for bees, bumblebees, hoverflies and butterflies. To find a specific term, just use the search function of your browser.

Image: Bern@t

In our series on biodiversity, we will focus on bees this time. There are two major groups of bees: the honeybees, whom we all know, living in big communities and the solitary bees, less known and with a big variety of species (more on them later).

As you might know, all bees are crucial for humans, because they pollinate: if bees were extinct, it would take human kind another 4 years to disappear as well. The problem is we do not know where the tipping point is in the declining numbers among bees we see today. Even the causes are not always clear. Recent studies show that the general loss of biodiversity is a main factor, the excessive use of chemicals and climate change have all been mentioned in this regard. Hopeful news is reaching us, like the French government announcing a large scale project to plant wild flowers, the thriving of bees in towns, and the raised interest in beehive associations. There are also things you can do!