The Polish coast is largely made up of dunes, both those that form active dunes systems moving landward and those that build seaward or along the coast to form sandy barriers creating lagoonal systems between areas of eroding morainic cliffs. This unconsolidated nature has implications for conservation and development. The National Parks in Poland also appear to have greater potential for generating revenue through entrance fees, parking charges and visitor attractions (e.g. bison) – these funds then go directly into park management, including conservation. Development of honeypots for visitors through beach replenish schemes help to take pressure off national parks and more naturalised coastal areas.
Traversing Through Transylvania: Christine Devlin You can download Christine’s report as a PDF here. Romania, and in particular southern Transylvania, is a hugely biodiverse country rooted in traditional culture. We were hosted by Fundatia ADEPT (Agricultural Development and Environmental Protection in Transylvania), a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) which focuses on biodiversity conservation and rural development. […]
Saxon Villages of Transylvania: Myles Maydew (Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park) Saxon villages of Transylvania The way that the houses are built in a certain area is normally related to the building materials in the locality and the needs of the population. Traditionally in the Saxon villages of Transylvania, these appear to be […]
I would start by saying it was a wonderful experience. I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to take part in this learning journey . I have enjoyed every single minute of it ,learned and exchange vision, ideas and best practice with both our Slovenian partners and hosts but also with my Scottish colleagues – which made the entire experience even more fulfilling .
Râmeț was not collectivised during the Communist era, due to its limited resource of ploughable land, thus there has been a continuity of farming practice. Those areas which were ploughable were traditionally planted with spring wheat, which matures in the summer. This wheat has a long straw, which was used for the traditional thatched buildings. Wheat growing ceased about 20-30 years ago, when bread became available from the shop, and the land has reverted to pasture.
The Wildflower Festival provided a way to encourage locals to keep the meadows uncut for longer periods of time, reduce pressures on the local communities by offering a tourism package that moves away from ‘lake, sun, beer’ model, outside of the peak season. It futher, spotlighted the cultural/social dimensions of nature, which is something I’ve been wanting to build more experience in as it is an important aspect of my current role, helping to develop an ecosystem health approach to protected area monitoring, which involves incorporating society and people into measuring the health of a given ecosystem.
Re-scheduled: 30th Aug – 6th Sept 2022 The course will be centred around Tampere University and will include a presentation from Scottish participants to Finnish students; there will be visits to conservation, commercial and urban forest a national park, either Seitseminen or Helventinjarvi National Parks.
Aims & Themes: exploring small scale sustainable farming; hay making & orchards within a cultural landscape; the challenges of sustainable rural development, community engagement and heritage management. Participants will learn about subsistence farming as opposed to intensive farming, as well as traditional ways of managing the land. Hands on work like hay making with a scythe, fruit gathering, making preserves.
Rescheduled 2-9th July 2022 Sustainable Farming & Food in Biodiversity & Protected Areas through Different Educational Approaches Host: Bojan Žnidaršič (VITRA Centre for Sustainable Development) Course Dates: 2-9 July 2022 Application Deadline: 2 March 2022 Preparation Meeting Date: 19 June 2022 Aims & Themes: learning about good practice in sustainable farming & food; […]
Ujście Warty National Park landscape is a mosaic of meadows, pastures and areas overgrown by sedge and reed. Odra Delta Nature Park is also an open laboratory where group of scientific realize works connected with flora, fauna, but also social aspects of nature conservancy.