On 25th of January the Ministry of the Environment and the Environmental Board, in cooperation with the LIFE IP ForEst&FarmLand project, acknowledged the most outstanding managers of seminatural grasslands for the second time! Among the seven nominees, Astra Ait from Saaremaa, Kalju Simpson from Läänemaa, and Mario Talvist from Saaremaa and Muhumaa were awarded the title. They have all made a major contribution to the preservation and restoration of our biologically diverse semi-natural grasslands.

With the LIFE IP ForEst&FarmLand project, we have taken on the task of restoring the water regime of wet forests and improving their natural condition over an area of 3,500 ha.

In the first half of 2022 the University of Tartu forestry workgroup selected the priority areas for restoration, while in the second half of the year, the Tallinn University bog forests workgroup started with preliminary monitoring of the areas.

Heavy snowfall and blizzard ended the ‘Notice alien species’ campaign. A total of 94 observers of alien species contributed to the mapping of knotweed, common snowberry, false spiraea, giant goldenrod and Canadian goldenrod, recording a total of 422 sightings.

In 2 years (2021–2022) we have restored 29 small bodies of water in Lääne-Viru County, 4 in Harju County and 4 in Läänemaa, and this summer's inventory of small bodies of water showed that the number of amphibian species in them is on the rise!

The LIFE IP ForEst&FarmLand project participated in the RMK nature conservation conference, which this time focused on the restoration of habitats and populations, with a poster presentation on the restoration of 3,500 ha of deciduous forests in bogs, 100 small bodies of water and 20 coastal meadows.

Much of Estonia's and Europe's biodiversity is linked to agriculture. In addition to production, agricultural landscapes play an important role in preserving our natural environment and everyone’s good health. A healthy field also raises the quality of our diet!

In mid-September a part of our team visited Lithuania under the guidance of the Environmental Board to exchange experiences with the Lithuanian integrated LIFE project NaturaLit (Optimising the management of Natura 2000 network in Lithuania), which is working largely the same way and has a similar objective as our project.

One of the indicator species of our project, the common spadefoot toad, has also caught the attention of the Osoon team! Here is your chance to jump in headfirst with the Osoon crew and amphibian experts Riinu Rannap and Elin Soomets-Alver and learn more about the fate of the common spadefoot toad!

Despite the showers and thunderstorms last week, nature conservation experts from the Environmental Board went to see the invasive species mapped this spring to assess their growth and population. We can now say that these sites have been fully overtaken by invasive species. For example, the tallest measured Japanese knotweed reached a height of four metres. In addition, native species often fail to grow under these expansive colonies.

This week, together with scientists from the Environmental Board and the University of Tartu, the managers of the semi-natural grasslands in Lahemaa assessed the biodiversity of their meadows, along with the ease or difficulty of mowing and grazing, and how the area being cared for and the natural values found there have changed over the years.