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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.

On 25 September, the umbrella organisation of European hunters, FACE, presented the Estonian Hunters’ Society with an award for its significant contribution to nature and fauna.

On 12–13 August, we learned about the alien species control activities carried out under the Latvian LIFE project LatViaNature. The control activities were introduced to us by Jēkabs Dzenis, Jānis Saulītis and Aiva Bojāre from the Latvian environmental agency, with whom we visited the Ķemeri and Ragakāpa nature parks and the Vecdaugava nature reserve.

Last week, the Conference on Ecological Restoration in Tartu brought together 700 researchers, practitioners and policy makers from 47 countries, who have at heart the preservation of biodiversity, ecological restoration of nature and an ever smarter cooperation between man and nature. More than 80% of Europe’s natural habitats have been damaged and impoverished.

One of the largest farmers in Central Estonia, Ahti Kalde (Sadala Agro), is among the seven farmers who are testing the benefits of strips of grassland on agricultural land in cooperation with the LIFE IP ForEst&FarmLand project. Last year, he established 12-metre-wide grassland strips on 58 hectares of field, sowing a mix of native grasses and flowering plants that together cover about eight hectares of the field.