Grassland-HU LIFE IP

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

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.

Based on the experiences of the past years, the staff of the Grassland Conservation Management Advisory Service and the Hortobágy National Park Administration summarized the latest nature conservation knowledge regarding the Hungarian grassland management in their smart calendar, which was published as part of the Grassland-HU LIFE integrated project.

On 28 November 2023, the fourth installment of The Secrets of Grasslands photo competition was awarded.Exhibition of the 30 best photos was opened at the Herman Ottó Conference Centre.

Grey cattle will once again graze the marsh meadows of the Nagy-rét at Kölked thanks to the Grassland project. In November 2023, the animals arrived at their new home, the recently opened animal husbandry facility of the Danube-Drava National Park Directorate.

Colleagues from the Slovenian Natura LIFE Integrated Project were hosted by the Hungarian Grassland-HU project team. During the three-day meeting, the experts got to know each other's conservation activities, good practices, and the management and funding possibilities of the Natura 2000 network.

A travelling exhibition of the photo competition A gyepek titkai III. can be seen in the Lászlómajor Visitor Centre and Demonstration Garden of the Fertő-Hanság National Park Directorate until 28 August 2023.