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On October 1, together with colleagues from the Latvian Fund for Nature, we organised a seminar on collecting seeds of plant species of EU importance for grassland habitats and their use in grassland restoration that was held in Institute for Environmental Solutions, Cesis municipality.

  How to collect seeds of native grassland plants correctly, how to sow them and how to grow seedlings to achieve a good restoration effect?

These and other questions are relevant to many natural grassland managers. The experience of collecting and using seeds was shared by grassland experts Baiba Strazdina and Agnese Priede, participant of the "Flower Meadows" (Ziedu pļavas) programme Raimonds Indāns and researcher Rūta Abaja-Felce from the Institute of Environmental Solutions. Participants also had the opportunity to get an insight into the Environmental Solutions Institute's plan to develop the first wild grassland seed production facility in Latvia.

 Finally, we visited the seed reproduction experimental garden of the Institute of Environmental Solutions, which was created within the Latvian Fund for Nature project "GrassLIFE2" and where for the first year different species of wild grassland plants have been grown for seed reproduction.

Natural grasslands in Latvia can now be considered a vanishing natural value, with only 0.9% or 60 000 ha of the territory preserved. About half of Latvia's grassland habitats are in poor condition, and measures are needed to improve their quality and prevent their loss. Sowing grassland plant species is a widely used method for restoring and conserving grassland habitats and is highly effective: with special sowing, biodiverse vegetation can be established the year after sowing.

The workshop was organised within the framework of the projects "LIFE IP LatViaNature: optimising the management of Natura 2000 protected areas" and "GrassLIFE2: restoring priority grassland habitats of European Union importance and promoting their diverse use". The projects are implemented with financial support from the EU LIFE Programme.

On September 16th, as part of the Nordic-Baltic LIFE platform meeting at the Radisson SAS Daugava hotel, we presented our brand , the "Grassland Product". A lot has been done since the launch of the brand in January. For now, 31 grassland manager  has received certificate of right to use the label " Grassland Product" for his/her products or services. It is very important to increase the awareness of the label as well as to educate the society about the natural grassland products and to promote the purchase of those products.

In collaboration with the 'New Chefs Movement,' we organized tastings of a six-course meal prepared using various natural meadow products – beef, sheep's milk, and honey. The guests loved it!

The Latvian Fund for Nature together with the "Young Chefs Movement" (Jauno pavāru kustība) association are continuing masterclasses for chefs training in Latvian vocational education institutions this autumn. These masterclasses aim to raise young professionals' awareness of products from Latvia's grasslands.

 The masterclasses were preceded by an educational seminar for all chef students, from 1st to 4th year, on Latvia's grasslands and their products. The chefs engaged in competitions and highlighted their participation in other groups, inviting more chefs to join and participate.

Then, onto practical skills - 28 aspiring chefs from the 3rd and 4th year were led in a masterclass by experienced chefs Artūrs Trinkuns from the restaurant "Barents" and Markuss Žamoidiks from the restaurant "B7".

On September 7, the Wild Foods Culinary Festival held in Zaube gathered visitors for the eighth time in Zaubes Manor Park, so chefs, hostesses, hunters, fishermen, nature experts and craftspeople can share in their knowledge of nature's culinary treasures together. For the first time, the Latvian Fund for Nature took part, representing the "Grassland Product" brand.

Visitors were introduced to the flavours of the meadow by tasting grassland products - various sheep milk cheeses from "Piena aitas bio", beef jerky from "Neganti gardi" and Jānis Vigovskis' meadow flower honey, as well as learn about the "Grassland Product" brand.

On August 30, in cooperation with "Zemnieku Saeima" and "Baltic studies centre", the seminar "Digital tools for beef producers" was held in Iedzeni, Madona region.

 Participants learned more about topics including mapping, the benefits and costs of digital solutions, applications for geospatial monitoring, using grasslands for fattening cattle and lesser known factors affecting beef quality and carcass grading.

 The day was concluded with a tour of Ieva Galiņa's farm, Lat Angus Ltd, which breeds Angus and Highland cattle.  The farm has its own abattoir, meat processing plant and a shop where you can buy beef and processed products bearing the "Grassland Product" label.

The event was organised within the framework of the CODECS and LatViaNature projects.

The second Meadow Festival ran by the Latvian Fund for Nature will take place in Arcadia Park, Riga, all day long. This is an event dedicated to semi-natural grasslands and their biodiversity, with a highlight on practices that everyone can implement to increase biological diversity in their area. The festival provides advice on meadow management and conservation, workshops on meadows and other ecosystems, lectures, natural meadow products and a concert by Rahu The Fool. The event is free of charge and will be hosted by Eva Johansson.

The Meadow Festival will start at 10.30 with the opening of the Grassland Products Market, where you can buy meats, honey and other beekeeping products, goat's milk cheese, ice cream, meadow teas, cosmetics and various other meadow products. At 11.00 you will have the opportunity to participate in a masterclass on collecting wild plant seeds led by LDF botanist Rūta Sniedze-Kretalova. From 13.00, an hourly insect catching and study walk with entomologist Voldemārs Spuņģis will take place.

July 7, in Antiņciems recreation area "Dare atpūtas pļava", the second face-to-face seminar of this year was held for grassland enthusiasts, where semi-natural grassland managers Sanita Matule and Indulis Skrebelis shared their experience on how to develop business in semi-natural grasslands.

Participants had the opportunity to find out more about natural grassland management and business opportunities in small grasslands, learn about medicinal and everyday wild plants and how they can be used for food. There was also an introduction to and tasting of products from the "Sanita's Meadow bounty" brand. The raw materials for these products are harvested in EU protected grassland habitats.