Restoration of priority grass habitats in Slovakia and Romania

DIVERSEED is a 7-year project focused on the restoration of priority grassland habitats shared between Slovakia and Romania and brings innovative mapping and restoration techniques that will have broad and long-term impact after the end of the project. It will focus on 10 habitats (9 priority habitats in Annex I of the Habitats Directive and one endangered habitat in the European Red List of Habitats) in 33 SCI, 30 in Slovakia and 3 in Romania. At least 920 ha of priority grassland habitats will be restored directly and another 1,200 ha indirectly through replications. In addition, the project will significantly support future grassland restoration by demonstrating and maintaining a sustainable capacity for seed collection from priority habitats and developing protocols for seed collection and reseeding in protected grasslands. Local seed mixtures are not available in Slovakia or Romania and are needed to meet the growing demand for restoration. DIVERSEED will work closely with farmers and farmer associations, environmental agencies and national authorities who have all expressed an interest. In the restoration, classic measures will be used, including grazing, mowing, removal of invasive species. In addition, the innovative sowing approach will restore the species composition of grasslands. It also benefits pollinators; flora and pollinators will be monitored to assess the impact of the project. Importantly, the project will also properly map and assess the critical grassland decline in Romania, which is underestimated due to lack of mapping capacity, and demonstrate the use of the latest mapping techniques. The results of the project will help to improve agri-environmental schemes in Romania, which are failing to stop the loss of grasslands. There will be a number of activities for volunteers, schools and the general public, as well as political work with the authorities and extensive farmer training. Seed mixtures will be designed to be marketed for further replication after the project is completed. (More on ec.europa.eu/)