Belfast Harbour Blossoms for Summer
Businesses within Belfast Harbour are blooming this summer thanks to ‘Harbour in Bloom’
Businesses within Belfast Harbour are blooming this summer thanks to a project sponsored by Belfast Harbour who funded plants and gardening equipment for participating companies.
The scheme, an idea which came from a tenant Biodiversity Workshop, began in Spring with help from The Conservation Volunteers and saw a range of businesses and organisations within Belfast Harbour engaging in the project to improve the local environment by introducing planters and floral displays outside their office spaces.
Belfast Harbour’s Communications and Corporate Responsibility Manager, Jenni Barkley, said:
“People often think of the Harbour and surrounding office developments as being quite an industrial environment, so we wanted to challenge that and transform the local open spaces by introducing some diversity and creating a brighter harbour.
This scheme has been a great opportunity for employee engagement, with people from all levels rolling up their sleeves and getting involved both in the initial planning and planting phase, as well as the maintenance of the planters and displays. Feedback has been really positive and we hope to ‘grow’ the project even further next year.”
Laura Duggan, Environmental Manager at George Best Belfast City Airport, one of the businesses which got involved in the scheme, said they were already seeing the benefits from their green fingered efforts:
“We introduced two large raised planter beds at our main entrance which are filled with a range of wild flowers. As well as the aesthetical benefits of the flowers, we now regularly spot a number of bees and other insects enjoying the plants.
Belfast Harbour’s ’Harbour in Bloom’ project has provided a great opportunity to enhance biodiversity at the airport which is an important part of our Corporate Responsibility programme.”
Twelve business have taken part in this year’s pilot scheme including, The Food Standards Agency, Bank of Ireland, Belfast City Council Port Health, Belfast Harbour and George Best Belfast City Airport.
