Latvian Floodplain Meadow Restoration

"This EU LIFE project encompasses 16 priority floodplain meadows in Latvia representing a combined area of 14,085 ha. The project sites, not previously addressed under other nature conservation initiatives, are all of unique regional, national and international importance and harbor the best floodplain meadows in the country, including 50% of its Fennoscandian wooded meadows and over 6530 ha of alluvial forests. These meadows provide crucial habitat for several priority bird species—chief among them the Great Snipe (Gallingo media)—and although restoration methodology varied in accordance with specific site characteristics, the interventions were all aimed at rehabilitating fragmented and overgrown meadows in order to protect and expand this habitat. Practitioners actively enlisted the help and support of local landowners and land managers in every phase of the project, and the ongoing management of project sites depends largely on the participation of these stakeholders. While monitoring activities thus far conducted on the restored floodplains show an overall increase in the populations of target species, a more accurate assessment of the project’s success must await longer-term trends and analyses."