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Description
The project focuses on the restoration of damaged meadows and the establishment of new species-rich lawns using two innovative methods. The support for the use of regional seed mixtures across the Czech Republic will contribute to increase or maintain the diversity of localities of conservation value but also of agricultural and anthropogenic habitats, thus improving the state of the Czech landscape. The development of the Database of donor grassland sites will facilitate the planning of seed harvesting by machines. It will also help the development of the green hay transfer method which has more complex logistics (demanding timing of biomass transfer). Moreover, it will lead to the deeper cooperation between universities in the Czech Republic and abroad (project partners), the non-profit sector, professional companies, farmers and state institutions.
Summary of project results
Meadows are very species-rich. In Czechia, a lot of of meadows had been ploughed in the last century. They were then regrassed, but species-poor seed mixtures were used. Regional seed mixtures are species-rich and contain seeds that are collected locally and used only in certain region. However, these mixtures are not available for much of the country. The project therefore aims to a) increase awareness of the use of these mixtures, b) find species-rich meadows across the country that could serve as a source of seeds for the creation of these mixtures, and c) experimentally compare several methods of seed collection and sowing to determine their effectiveness. Thus, the project will contribute to greater availability and use of regional seed mixtures across the country.
We established experimental plots, which we harvested in various ways. We analysed seed samples from these plots. We established demonstration plots that were sown in corresponding experimental squares. These plots will be monitored in the long term. In this way we have obtained baseline data for future meadow restorations. We searched for rich grasslands across the country that are suitable as source sites for seed collection. Such sites can be used to create regional seed mixtures in the future. We promoted the idea of regional seed mixtures in various ways: brush machine demonstrations, workshops, articles, videos, etc.
The project outputs were shared with the professional and general public. This has made the creation of regional seed mixtures in Czechia more accessible. Future meadow restoration projects can build on our experience. In the long term, regional seed mixtures for meadow habitat restoration can be used more widely than was the case before the project started
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), has been researching degraded areas and their restoration for many years, as have the project partners from the Czech Republic. As part of the project, the HVL team evaluated a long-term experiment - the condition of a meadow established with various methods including regional seed mixture after 20 years. In addition, thanks to HVL''s involvement, we had the opportunity to visit Norway as part of an expert seminar they organised. Here we had the opportunity to meet other organisations working on the same topic, visit areas restored in different ways and exchange experiences. At the same time, the Norwegian partner also presented their activities at the expert seminar in the White Carpathians, where it was again possible to establish wider cooperation with other organisations.The main result of the bilateral cooperation was a closer acquaintance with the partner organisation, an exchange of experience and knowledge and a comparison of how the situation in nature conservation and grassland restoration differs between Norway and the Czech Republic and how they are similar. The visit to Norway, the partner and other organisations was an inspiration for the future direction of the meadow restoration programme in the Czech Republic.HVL is a university, so they are more focused on research than practical applications. The project partners of JCU and MUNI, which are also universities, will continue to work with them on joint projects. As far as CSOP is concerned, if there is an opportunity to reconnect our activities in the future, we will be happy to take it. However, at the moment there is no concrete plan on how to continue the cooperation. Nevertheless, during our visit to Norway, the HVL team put us in contact with other organisations whose activities are closer to those of CSOP and with whom we are starting to cooperate.