changeadminReiterating its commitment to sustainable infrastructure development, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has announced a first-of-its-kind initiative to develop bee corridors along National Highways.
Marking a shift from ornamental to ecological plantations, the ‘Bee Corridor’ will feature a continuous linear stretch of bee-friendly vegetation, including flowering trees and plants, ensuring nectar and pollen are available year-round.
Plantations along National Highways offer a unique opportunity to support pollinator conservation, which is essential to bringing food to our tables.
Developing bee corridors along the National Highways initiative will help reduce the increasing ecological stress faced by honeybees and other pollinators, which is adversely impacting pollination services, agricultural and horticultural productivity, and overall ecological balance.
NHAI will align its plantation activities towards creating dedicated pollinator or ‘Bee Corridors’. The unique initiative will include a mix of trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses that will retain wild elements by planting nectar- and pollen-rich species, allowing flowering weeds to bloom, and by providing dead wood and hollow trunks that are beneficial to pollinators.
The selection of plant species will ensure staggered flowering across different seasons to maintain a near-continuous blooming cycle throughout the year.
Native species of trees and plants, including Neem, Karanj, Mahua, Palash, Bottle Brush, Jamun, and Siris, will be planted along National Highways.
Depending upon agro-climatic conditions and local suitability, such corridors will be developed along National Highway stretches and other vacant NHAI land parcels.
NHAI field offices across the country will identify National Highway sections where clusters of flowering trees can be planted at intervals of approximately 500 meters to 1 km, corresponding to the average foraging distance of honeybees and wild bees.
NHAI field offices will also plan and develop at least three pollinator corridors during 2026–27. NHAI plans to plant around 40 lakh trees along National Highways during 2026–27, of which around 60 per cent will be planted under the Bee Corridor initiative.
The unique bee corridors along the National Highways initiative will enhance ecological outcomes, support pollinator conservation, and further strengthen NHAI’s commitment to environmentally responsible National Highway development.
In 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways introduced the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy to increase green cover with community participation.
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