Seminar on the collection of seeds from plant species in grassland habitats of EU importance and their use in grassland restoration

On 1 October, at the Institute for Environmental Solutions, in Cēsis District, together with colleagues from the Latvian Nature Fund, we organised a seminar on the collection of seeds from plant species in grassland habitats of EU importance and their use in grassland restoration.

How should one correctly collect seeds from natural grassland plants, and how should one sow them and grow seedlings to achieve effective restoration of natural grasslands?

These and other issues are of current interest to many managers of natural grasslands. Grassland experts Baiba Strazdina and Agnese Priede shared their experience of seed collection and use, Raimonds Indāns, a participant in the “Flower Meadows” programme, and Rūta Abaja-Felce, a researcher at the Institute for Environmental Solutions. Participants also had the opportunity to gain an insight into the Institute for Environmental Solutions’ plans to develop the first wild grassland seed production facility in Latvia.

To conclude, we visited the Institute of Environmental Solutions“ experimental seed propagation garden, which was established as part of the Latvian Nature Fund’s ”GrassLIFE2’ project, and where, for the first year, various species of wild grasses have been cultivated for seed propagation.

Natural grasslands in Latvia can currently be regarded as a disappearing natural asset; they have survived on an area of just 0.9%, or 60,000 ha. Approximately half of Latvia’s grassland habitats are in poor condition, so measures need to be taken to improve their quality and prevent their disappearance. Sowing grassland plant species is a widely used method for the restoration and conservation of grassland habitats, and it is also highly effective – with targeted sowing, the development of biologically diverse vegetation can be observed as early as the year following sowing.

The seminar was organised as part of the projects “LIFE IP LatViaNature: Optimisation of the management and stewardship of Natura 2000 protected areas” and “GrassLIFE2: Restoration of Priority Grassland Habitats of European Union Importance and the Promotion of Their Diverse Uses”. The projects are being implemented with financial support from the EU LIFE Programme.