Slovenia: Wildflowers & Sustainable Tourism
101 visits
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Slovenia: Wildflowers & Sustainable Tourism

Faced with a crowded national park and local communities and crafts struggling to survive from traditional activities,  their strategy is to encourage and promote tourism as a way to help the communities thrive. Educating the local communities (from school children to farmers) is key to the success of the programme. Tourism is seen as the generator of sustainable change.
It was interesting to hear that their Slovenia Green Platinum Scheme was inspired by the Green Tourism Scheme in Scotland. The Triglav National Park and more particularly Bohinj have now taken it a step further by creating a Triglav Quality Mark and a specific Bohinj brand .

Slovenia Bohinj Wildflower Festival Story Map Report
79 visits
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Slovenia Bohinj Wildflower Festival Story Map Report

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.

ESTONIA: An Ancient Maritime Nation
171 visits
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ESTONIA: An Ancient Maritime Nation

Maarika Naagel of Heritage Tours for outstanding hospitality, infectious enthusiasm, expert knowledge and endless patience; for generously sharing their home; and for safe driving, music and random introductions to Estonian subculture.
Estonians have built a successful marine tourism product. It has been made possible by the willing cooperation between the EU, the state, the municipalities, community groups and entrepreneurs, and supported by national and regional policy.

Native woodland and grazing in SW Norway late July 2022
910 visits
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Native woodland and grazing in SW Norway late July 2022

The aim of this course is to provide people working in Scottish upland land management the opportunity to see and hear how native woodland has been responding to changes in grazing pressure in the part of Scandinavia most environmentally similar to Scotland.  Participants will visit a variety of biodiverse, reforested landscapes from exposed coast to mountain top, where climate and geology are very similar to our own, and where multiple land uses such as forestry, hunting and farming, are often practised together.

ICELAND: turf building, cultural context & practical skills training
332 visits
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ICELAND: turf building, cultural context & practical skills training

Update 12th February 2022: We have new dates for NET courses in 2022. The decision of the UK government to leave the Erasmus+ programme will not affect this project. We will update participants of any new travel insurance and visa regulations. Participants from the postponed course in 2020 will be offered first choice on any rescheduled […]

SPAIN: Course Woodworking tradition & innovation in Galicia
579 visits
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SPAIN: Course Woodworking tradition & innovation in Galicia

Woodworking & forest management: tradition and innovation in Galicia. Update March 2022: we are talking with our hosts to determine new dates for this course.  Participants from the postponed course in 2020 will be offered first choice on any rescheduled courses in 2022. As soon as we have course dates and communicated with the 2020 group […]

Project: Village Voices
240 visits
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Project: Village Voices

Project: Village Voices Sustainability & Identity in Rural Cyprus. The theme of our project was Sustainable development through cultural heritage and rural community activities. The cultural and natural heritage of Cyprus, community heritage and engagement, craft and rural development. The aim of this project for me was to look at how small local and traditional […]

Craft Education & Practice in Bulgaria
454 visits
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Craft Education & Practice in Bulgaria

It was interesting to hear that despite training opportunities there is not much uptake by young people to follow a career path in crafts. Many leave rural areas and head to the larger towns and cities for employment. The model of an apprenticeship whereby the individual receives training through a dual system is an approach which works well. This involves a combination of theoretic training in an educational establishment combined with practical training in a crafts enterprise.

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Wetland & Coastal Management in the Odra Delta – a model for Mersehead?

It was a great opportunity to be able to spend a week looking at the various types of parks and reserves in the Odra Delta and seeing the benefits and challenges of each. I think we were all blown away by how rich and diverse the wildlife and landscapes are, not just within the protected areas, but in the general landscape of the region as a whole. The main issues facing protected areas and wildlife in general in Poland seems to be a familiar one, lack of funding, staffing and awareness, which is all too familiar a problem in the UK as well. Due to Poland’s history, many people do not feel a connection to the land and so one of the results is that volunteering is nearly non-existant, which is a shame as this could be a rich source of help that is currently unavailable. It will also be interesting to see how the reserves will cope with climate change; increased pressure from predation and invasive species is tied in to this (as seen at Ujscie Warty NP) and subsequently pressure on staff time and funding for projects to deal with this. Hopefully the diversity of the landscapes means […]

Latvia Report 2019 (and Species List)

A group report covering a range of perspectives and topics from the NET Latvia course 2019. Although a trip focused on understanding the management of nature conservation in Latvia our hosts made sure we received a healthy dose of cultural history to compliment and broaden our understanding of Latvia and its people.

LATVIA: A CULTURAL JOURNEY NOT JUST A NATURAL ONE!

From the wetlands of Kemeri National Park through to the wooded sand stone valley of Gauja National Park the visiting tourist cannot fail to be impressed by the abundance of information signs, play areas, picnic spots, fire pits, boarded walks and walking trails which manage to make you feel welcome without compromising on the natural beauty of the landscape. I think all in the group would agree that we were excited about the accessibility of Latvia to a tourist with return trips already being mapped out.

ĶEMERI NATIONAL PARK – BOGS, WETLANDS, AND RE-MEANDERINGS

An account of the history and restoration works undertaken of one of Latvia’s major peat bogs – and the restoration of an adjoining river and associate flood plains.

Forestry in Latvia

In terms of organisational structure there are strong similarities to Scotland. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) develops policy. The State Forest Service sits within the MOA and enforces legislation across the industry whilst providing support and issuing licences/permits for all forests regardless of ownership. Finally, the Latvia State Forests Joint Stock Company operates as a commercial entity and manages all state owned forests. However as Normunds went into more detail and as we visited more forests throughout the week it became clear that organisational structure was where any similarities to forestry in Scotland ended. In terms of forest cover, ownership and management Scotland and Latvia could hardly be more different. It was fascinating to spend time in a country with such a different approach, where forestry seems to be winning out over intensive tree farming. Since being back at work I’ve been looking at my sites differently, wondering how much of what I saw could work here and daydreaming of Wolf , Moose, Lynx and Bear…. Paldies Latvia!

Deer, Moose & Forestry in Latvia

In Latvia deer management is administered centrally by the State Forest Service and there is a national register of hunters who require a license to hunt. However management is devolved to the 2074 hunting districts with cull targets and objective agreed locally. This and the requirement of a minimum land area over which to hunt different species means that there is a more collaborative approach to hunting in Latvia. Cull reporting is more rigorous than in Scotland and hunters are required to record where, when and how many deer they harvest.

Forest Management, Disease & Control: Perspectives from Latvia

Given the extent and value of both Norway and Sitka spruce stands in both Scotland and the wider UK, it is vitally important economically and environmentally as described above to minimize and control any outbreaks of dangerous forest pests in coming years. Lessons learned in Latvia as well as other European countries indicate the importance of early detection through annual monitoring and indeed the important relevant intervention to control outbreaks and minimize losses as well as preventing further spread of infestations.

Institute for Environmental Solutions

It is an impressive set up, with a (for Latvia) diverse staff of 35, who are highly skilled and experienced in their fields of biology, chemistry, electronics, and others. The umbrella vision for IES and the other 11 companies is an ethos of environmental thinking through medicine, art, beauty, and gastronomy. There is a conscious effort to break the barriers between science based knowledge and the experience of people who have gained a deep understanding of the land through years of working and living with it, blending the two to gain a higher level of understanding. This is done through job swaps, careful recruitment, local projects, and shadowing.

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