The Kocsér Grassland Conservation Management Advisory and Landscape Unit Center's handover ceremony took place on 12th-13th September 2024.

It's time for the first mowing. It is important for farmers to bear in mind that in Hungary, the use of animal deterrent chain curtainare required by law when mowing grasslands and arable lands subjects of either Natura 2000 or Agri-Environmental Payments.

Until the beginning of the last century, when the mechanization of mowing did not begin, it was a slow-paced work process that was done with hand tools and human power. The harvest progressed slowly, in a larger area it could take up to weeks, so freshly mowed, unmowed, and re-sprouted patches were created to varying degrees, creating the most favorable mosaic.

The grasslands must not only be dense, it must also be alive. Nowadays, the main role belongs to modern tools, and grass management can be carried out in a nature-friendly way. Always keep in mind: the grasslands is primarily a habitat! The species living in there, are important participants in the ecological balance, so not only they, but also the crop yield is vulnerable.

In Péter Bacsó's absurdist classic film The Witness, the communist state accuses the protagonist and his disgraced friend of passing "secret messages in ground squirrels skins" to the frogmen. According to the story, the two characters do indeed come into contact with the "dam's greatest enemy, the ground squirrel", beating the crap out of a (european) hamster.

Representatives of the European Commission's Nature Conservation Directorate have arrived in Hungary for a bilateral meeting on the Natura 2000 network. The meeting, which took place on 14-15 February 2024, provided the opportunity to discuss specific nature conservation issues and to present the results of the Grassland-HU LIFE integrated project.