Part of the quake-struck New Zealand city of Christchurch will be turned into a bee sanctuary.
Since the 2011 earthquake that killed 185 in the South Island town, large sections of land have been considered too dangerous to build on.
On Sunday, Christchurch regeneration minister Megan Woods announced one of those areas - in the suburb of Dallington - would be trialled as a breeding ground aimed at boosting the world's struggling bee population.
While starting with just 10 hives and about 600,000 local bees, the government says it hopes to grow the project over time.
Beekeeper Simon Phillips - who looks after the hives - says while it's a small first step, such initiatives are needed to stop the global decline in bee numbers.
"It is a constant battle, with new diseases appearing every month, so we constantly have to develop new treatments to deal with each new virus," he said.
"Normally we would have the hives on farms or in open fields where there is not always much for them to feed on, but the red zone is full of fruit trees that will be able to sustain the bees."
The announcement coincided with the United Nations' first World Bee Day celebration.
