A research article based on a nationwide survey explored how managers of Estonian semi-natural grasslands assess current conditions and support schemes, and what could be improved in the future to ensure the continued provision of ecosystem services and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Agriculture is a lifestyle based largely on experimentation. Which crops, varieties and animal breeds should be grown? Which technologies should be used? Which fertilizers and plant protection products? There are thousands of questions. Among them, there is one that may have received undeservedly little attention: How can nature help me in my work?

The Nature Conservation Biology Working Group of the University of Tartu also monitored the hatching success rate of waders nesting in coastal meadows this year. The results of the monitoring show that foxes inhabiting the coastal meadows and their burrows were the main issue for the year. A total of 178 dens were monitored.

Despite it being haymaking season, it is on 2 July, a date that we have celebrated as Semi-natural Grassland Day for the past five years, that no work should be done according to the Old People’s Calendar. Instead, we invite you to celebrate Estonian landscapes and heritage in whatever way you wish.

The coastal meadows of Matsalu National Park are important nesting areas for meadow waders, with the small predators hunting for prey on the coastal meadows being their biggest enemies. The greater the number of trees and shrubs growing in coastal meadows, the greater the chance that foxes, European badgers and, in some cases, jackals will sneak over to the ground nests and feast on nesting birds’ eggs.

Today, 28 January, Minister of Climate Yoko Alender and Director General of the Environmental Board Rainer Vakra recognised the most outstanding managers of semi-natural grasslands, who contribute with their activities to the preservation of Estonia’s most species-rich landscapes and the preservation of life on land.

The economic maturity of a forest is reached before its ecological maturity, with the contradiction starting with the fact that a significant number of species can only live in a forest that is more than a hundred years old.

One of the aims of the LIFE IP “ForEst&FarmLand” project is to restore 20 coastal meadows in Hiiu County, Saare County, and Lääne County. This includes, among other things, the felling of trees and shrubs, restoration of water regimes, removal of reeds, and the limiting of the population of small predators that threaten waders nesting on coastal pastures. This is a considerable challenge, as there are more than 300 areas to be restored and over 240 owners involved. Fortunately, more than 60% of landowners are willing to cooperate with conservation efforts.

From 9–11 October, a joint workshop on LIFE projects was held in Leuven, Belgium, to discuss the implementation of performance-based grants and their impact on biodiversity. The meeting was attended by projects dealing with agricultural issues, where they discussed the initial results and challenges of testing the new support system.

Last week, in order to enrich agricultural landscapes, we planted a 130-metre hedge in the ‘Postirõõmu’ field of OÜ Mäemõisa, consisting of various trees and shrubs suitable for hedge plants – boxwood, viburnum shrubs, mountain currant, buckthorn, hawthorn, hazel, elm, etc. We used various mulches and trunk protection methods in the planting area in order to later analyse these methods and select the most suitable ones.