Dear allotment gardeners!
As I begin to write these lines, I am marvelling at how quickly this year has gone by. It has been a year with a lot of work, both in the garden and professionally, and now that at least the gardening season is slowly coming to an end and a quieter time is beginning, I would like to give you a brief insight into what has been happening in the international allotment family.
There were two meetings of all members of the Fédération Internationale in 2024.
In March, the delegates met for the statutory General Assembly in Luxembourg. In addition to the necessary resolutions, the time was primarily used to share experiences. It is always great to see the enthusiasm and positive spirit with which the participants share their knowledge and take on board the ideas of others.
Finally, in August, the international allotment garden family took part in a congress in Berlin organised by the Federation of German Allotment Garden Associations. The theme "Allotment gardens in Europe: Green for all" captured the spirit of the times and the excellent expert presentations provided the participants with many valuable ideas on how to deal with the many challenges that lie ahead.
But it also turned out again how great our allotment gardens already are:
• Allotment gardens are places of diversity, as the environmentally friendly, pesticide-free and sustainable cultivation of our gardens provides animals and plants with a healthy habitat, which is becoming increasingly scarce in the cities.
• Allotment gardens are climate oases that can make an invaluable contribution, especially in times of extreme events such as heat or heavy rainfall. Be it by providing cooling in the cities through their planting or by absorbing water through unsealed soil.
• Allotment gardens are places of togetherness, where people look after each other, help each other and work together to realise ideas.
All this and so much more characterises our allotment gardens and their associations. We have every right to be proud of this. Nevertheless, we should not rest on our laurels. It is our task to keep reminding those responsible at national and international level of the important contribution allotment gardens make to environment, climate and society.
With a voice that represents more than two million allotment garden families, we must make ourselves heard by the political representatives in the individual countries and of course also at European level. Together we can achieve so much more than alone, together we give the allotment gardeners a loud voice that is difficult to ignore, together we will continue to work to ensure that allotment gardens are perceived positively in the future.
Finally, may I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and all the best and good health for the New Year 2025.
Sylvia Wohatschek
Secretary General, Fédération Internationale des Jardins Familiaux
Even if it goes without saying that soil is essential for us allotment gardeners, today's World Soil Day must not go unnoticed by the allotment garden family.
It is true that without soil we could not fulfil our passion - gardening - but soil is of such fundamental importance to our ecosystem that it is worth a closer look.
Soil is a storehouse of nutrients, the foundation for food production, a place of biodiversity, carbon storage and protection of our drinking water resources. Due to these diverse and (vital) properties, it is obvious that our soil needs special protection.
We allotment gardeners have been making an invaluable contribution in this area for a long time. By working, planting and caring for the soil, we ensure that it can fulfil its many functions. In times of climate change, in times of extreme events such as heavy rain, storms and heat, it is more important than ever that it can do this.
Let us therefore be particularly aware today that unsealed, pesticide-free soil is not only a benefit for the individual allotment gardener but is also of crucial importance with regard to climate change.
As allotment garden families, let us do our bit to ensure that the soil continues to nourish and protect us in the future.
The International Federation wishes you a happy World Kindness Day!
Some of you may wonder why this greeting is coming from the international allotment gardeners. Well, the answer to this question is simple:
Kindness concerns us all, because we are all happy when we experience kindness.
Moreover, kindness can take many forms, whether it's giving a smile to your fellow human beings and treating them with respect, or actively or passively helping others.
But kindness does not stop at the interpersonal level but extends to our entire environment.
Therefore, it is fair to say that we allotment gardeners are particularly friendly.
In our allotments, we cultivate and protect nature, provide valuable living space for all forms of life and plants, and are part of a community that helps and supports each other.
So, on this World Kindness Day, we would like to remind you:
Smile at those around you, enjoy your allotment and savour the kindness that comes back to you.
