The first volume of the Conserving the Wildlife of the Pannonian Grasslands book series has been published as part of the Grassland-HU LIFE Integrated Project, coordinated by Herman Ottó Institute Nonprofit Ltd.. Focusing on vertebrate species, the publication not only provides a comprehensive overview of grassland wildlife, but also serves as a practical guide for land managers and farmers.
One significant side effect of globalization—particularly international trade and tourism—is the intensifying biological invasion, during which certain organisms arriving from distant lands not only establish themselves in our country but, by proliferating in massive numbers, transform our natural environment. This process has a negative impact not only on our natural heritage but often on agricultural management as well.
Staff members of the Herman Ottó Institute Nonprofit Ltd., Renáta Bocz (integrated project manager of Grassland-HU LIFE IP) and Olivér Váczi (project leader of CitellusLIFE), discussed this year’s "Mammal of the Year" in an episode of the Greendex podcast. The focus was on a species that is now strictly protected and serves as an essential ecological keystone species for the survival of entire ecosystems.
On January 14, 2026, the Hortobágy National Park Directorate hosted the first event of this year’s eight-part educational Farmers' Forum series. The forum was organized in connection with the Grassland-HU LIFE Integrated Project.
The future of farming is moving towards regenerative practices. The Top 50 Farmers initiative leads this change. Zoltán Lengyel, the head of Táncoskert Farm, is part of the program, showing that sustainable methods benefit both the environment and farmers.
The concerted and systematic collaboration of scientific disciplines, state authorities, and the public is indispensable for the conservation of endangered species. Species Action Plans serve precisely this purpose, outlining the threatening factors and the objectives and measures of the action program implemented for their protection.
On 26 February 2025, the Hortobágy National Park Directorate will organise the eighth event in its lecture series connected to the Grassland-HU LIFE Integrated Project. The upcoming lecture will be held by Péter Balogh, farmer and geographer, who will discuss the relationship between nature conservation and agricultural management.
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.
We organised a nature conservation volunteer camp at the legendary Szőce bog. More than twenty adult volunteers helped us to preserve one of the most exceptional habitats in Hungary by collecting hay that had been mown on the bog.
The Herman Ottó Institute Nonprofit Ltd. invited 300 primary school children to get involved in the Day of Birds and Trees on Friday 13th May 2022.