Establishing a seed bank for endangered grassland habitat types in Slovenia and their restoration using native seed material.

Slovenian native seed banks had limited geographic coverage, poor habitat representation and low intraspecific genetic diversity. Experience on grassland restoration using native seed material was scarce, and native seed production non-existent. The majority of grassland habitat types had an unfavorable conservation status and poor future prospects, with populations of some species declining or going extinct. There were no financial incentives for grassland restoration or native seed production.

There was a need for a genetically diverse and geographically coherent seed bank of native species, supported by an advanced database. Restorations were required to improve the conservation status of Natura 2000 grassland habitat types and gain knowledge on different restoration methods. Public policies, especially the Common Agricultural Policy, lacked measures to stimulate the restoration of extensively managed meadows, which would provide a wider uptake of solutions developed in our project.

We created a seed bank holding over 12.000 samples/600 species, providing a valuable source for future restoration. Restoration was carried out on 81,3 ha, using four methods, thus building strong know-how. Three conservation measures were designed to stimulate grassland restoration using native seeds as well as giving new economic perspective to the existing extensive meadows. They will be part of the national Common Agricultural Policy post 2027 and will help implement the EU Green Deal.

We signed contracts with over 250 landowners to get their permission for seed collection on 560 meadows across 25 Natura sites, covering dry orchid meadows, Nardus grasslands and turloughs. We restored grasslands using local green hay, seed mixtures or blocks of grass turf, all sourced on donor meadows. 4596 seedlings of 60 species were grown from seed and planted onto recipient plots. Eighteen focus groups with farmers were held to hear their view on the developed measures.

Our partnership involved DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia (NGO, lead partner), Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, and managers of Triglav National Park, Notranjski Park and Nature Park Goričko. We worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Institute for Nature Conservation and the Alpine Association of Slovenia. External help included the farm advisory service (activities with farmers), the Biotechnical Faculty (feasibility study, market analysis) and Jovan Hadži Institute of Biology (vegetation and butterfly surveys).

Our seed bank with 12.000 samples/600 species provides material for future restoration. Higher plant species diversity and/or coverage of typical species was already recorded on more than half of the 81,3 ha restored. Web portal of high nature value grasslands (potential donor sites) currently holds 1176 plots. Around 830.000 people were reached by over 500 national and local media contributions and 60 public events. Cooperation was established with all relevant agricultural stakeholders.

The main obstacles encountered:
• difficulties obtaining national co-financing
• high inflation rates resulting in higher prices of equipment and services
• extreme weather conditions (floods, downpours, strong winds) delaying restoration
• securing enough seed material for grassland restoration
• slow development of target habitat types on nutrient-rich soils (e.g. arable land) and plots with abundant soil seed bank of ruderal and invasive species

The main lessons learned:
• when restoring grasslands, especially from arable or highly degraded land, plan for project duration of min. 5 years to allow for the establishment of target habitat type
• apply seed material over several consecutive years, not just once
• conduct annual vegetation monitoring of recipient plots and adjust management based on the results
• involve agricultural stakeholders from the outset of planning conservation measures

The project LIFE FOR SEEDS (LIFE20 NAT/SI/000253) is co-financed by the European Union’s LIFE Programme, Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, Sigrid Rausing Trust and the Ministry of Public Administration.