Laka

Converting ‘green desert lawns’ to eco-friendly city meadows in public spaces /

Poland has 100,000 hectares of municipal lawns across the country. These lawns act as ‘green deserts’, leading to the loss of habitat for pollinators and vanishing biodiversity. In addition, pesticides used for lawn care kill weeds, bees and other insects. Lawn mowing also plays a big role in air pollution. According to research, there has been a more than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass. This negative trend breaks the food chain, affecting all species, including humans and their food production system. Laka creates unique seed packages with patented coating for various kinds of meadows and an end-to-end service process of installing and managing them for municipal clients. The social enterprise helps municipalities switch from lawns to flower meadows, helping reduce air pollution and restore natural, biodiverse habitats. With support from FASE, the Polish social enterprise successfully closed an initial financing round in the first half of 2020.