Meeting of Grassland Conservation Management Advisors
The Grassland Conservation Management Advisory Service held its two-day meeting in Keszthely. The aim of the programme was to exchange professional experience and evaluate the results achieved so far. In addition to the advisors, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Association of Hungarian Livestock Breeders and The Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture also took part in the meeting.
The aim of the meeting, which took place between 16 and 17 January 2024, was to give the members of the Grassland-HU LIFE Integrated Project's Grassland Conservation Management Service (GYTSZ) the opportunity to share their experiences and evaluate their achievements through practical examples. The analysis of positive and negative impressions provided a good opportunity to look at the different perspectives and specific situations they have encountered in their work from several angles.
The experts were able to gain detailed insights into each other's work and share their comments and suggestions on how to cooperate with grassland farmers. All agreed on the importance of improving communication and strengthening links with farmers and local organisations.
The meeting, organised by the Herman Ottó Institute Non-profit Ltd., coordinator of the Grassland project, was attended by GYTSZ members, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Association of Hungarian Livestock Breeders and The Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture. The parties presented their activities and expressed their openness to cooperation in order to enable the advisory service to carry out its work more effectively.
On the second day of the meeting, the experts visited the Batyk wetland meadow, which belongs to the Balaton-felvidéki National Park Directorate, where they had a very educational field visit despite the unfavourable vegetation conditions. The National Park Directorate's grassland conservation management advisors provided information on the history of the grassland landscape and the efforts being made to maintain it in its current state. One of the conditions for the conservation of this area of high conservation value would be grazing, but unfortunately this is not feasible due to a decline of willingness of livestock ownership, so mowing is being carried out to create the right conditions for the protected plant and butterfly species found here.
Source: Herman Ottó Institute Nonprofit Ltd.
