First project press conference
On the 13th of September 2019 we organized the first press conference of the Gorička krajina project at the castle Grad. Representatives of all three project partners - Goričko Natura park Public Institute, DOPPS- BirdLife Slovenia and the Slovene Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry - Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Murska Sobota presented the activities carried out so far and the first results.
In the first half of the project, the restoration of 106 ha of extensive meadows on 676 parcels began. Overgrown meadows were restored by removal of trees and bushes and mowing. 15 ha of existing high-trunk orchards were restored by rejuvenating pruning and removal of the semi-parasitic mistletoe. new orhards will be planted in the second half of the project. "We believe that we will not have any problems in finding interested owners of meadows or existing orchards who would like to establish new or supplement old orchards," said Gregor Domanjko, project manager at the leading partner. The purchase of 56 ha of abandoned meadows in 42 cadastral zones is currently being completed. "For the protection of the target species, Scops owl, our advisory service, together with project collaborators, actively urged farmers to leave the strips on the meadow unmown, as the owl frequently hunts for food there," said the head of the Agriculture advisory service dr. Stanko Kapun.
At the end of 2018, the lights illuminating churches with bat roosts were replaced next to nine churches in Goričko. The 13 new lights now illuminate only the facade and roof of the church, so local light pollution has also been reduced. In the former school in Kančevci we prepared the first permanent exhibition on bats in Slovenia, which is entirely dedicated to the presentation of these mysterious, but unfortunately still often unjustifiably persecuted animals. The exhibition is complemented by a starry sky.
DOPPS - BirdLife Slovenia conducted a point count inventory and an inventory of the habitat use of the woodlark. Its abundance in Goričko has decreased sharply in the last twenty years. Nowdays, its population is estimated at 40 nesting pairs. Katarina Denac, conservation ornithologist: “The inventory of the habitat use of the woodlark was extremely demanding, as it is a small, mysterious and demanding species. To our surprise, woodlark in Goričko mainly nests on fields with winter grain, although in the past the species nested on extensive meadows. Meadows remain the main foraging habitat.«
After the press conference, the participants of the conference visited some restored meadows in Stanjevci, which were restored in order to improve habitat conditions for the large blue butterflies and meadow habitat types. Among meadows, participants had the opportunity to see the caterpillar of large blue butterfly, whose life cycle is complex and therefore requires much more attention in conservation. On one of the meadows, last blue flowers of the protected marsh gentian could be still seen. After participants had a brief visit at the replaced lights in Križevci and in one of the restored high-trunk orchards in Ivanovci. The highlight of the field part was certainly the pre-premiere visit of the first permanent exhibition on bats in the former school in Kančevci.
