The Group oversees a considerable amount of green space, particularly in Germany, and in total we manage 624,000+ sqm of green areas, including woodland, grassland and meadows around our buildings. We protect, support and expand biodiversity across out portfolio, and our biodiversity strategy is focused on three pillars: meadows, trees, and bees.

Our main focus this year has been on aligning the UK biodiversity programme with our actions in Germany. Through the UK portfolio, we completed our wildflower meadow conversion and now look after over 21,000sqm of wildflower meadows. We also finalised a tree count, which identified 5,139 trees to add to our garden maintenance programme.

In Germany, our biodiversity strategy is further progressed. We look after over 400,000sqm of green space, including over 35,000sqm of wildflower meadows, which we have converted since our biodiversity programme commenced in 2021/22. With three recent acquisitions being added to the German portfolio in the year, these will be assessed for biodiversity opportunities.

Meadows

Our wildflower meadows play a particularly important role in supporting bee populations, and we continue to increase the number of beehives and beekeepers we support through corporate partnerships in the UK and Germany.

Trees

We continue to partner with Tree Nation, an organisation that is helping to tackle climate change by planting new trees worldwide.

Working with them, we supported the planting of a total of 28,813 new trees this year as part of reforestation projects across the world, including Madagascar, Tanzania, and Kenya. These trees are estimated to absorb 1,804 tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide this year. Since the programme started in FY2020/21, we have planted over 73,000 trees through our partnership with Tree Nation as a result of German and UK activities. These efforts are just one way of supporting global ecosystems and do not form part of our own carbon offsetting programme.

Bees

Bees are vital in promoting biodiversity. They play a critical role in pollinating trees and flowers and maintaining the healthy ecosystems on which food production relies.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimate that bees and other pollinators contribute to 35% of the world's total crop production, pollinating 87 of 115 leading food crops worldwide.

Yet, it is alarming that bee populations are under serious threat and experiencing a drastic decline.

As part of our biodiversity objectives, we are committed to trying to halt that decline. Through our partnerships with Hectare Nektar in Germany and Bee1 in the UK, we are helping boost their numbers across our portfolios.

To date, we have invested in creating homes for more than 2 million additional bees in some 40 hives across Germany, all tended by a team of professional beekeepers. Meanwhile, in the UK, we have funded 8 new beehives and keepers to support a population of around 500,000 bees.

These efforts are supported by our drive to create more wildflower meadows. According to the WWF, the global environmental charity, just one acre of wildflower meadow can contain three million flowers, producing 1 kg of nectar sugar - enough to support nearly 96,000 honeybees daily.