At the peak of this year’s seed collection season, between July 4th and 11th, the third student research camp of the Life For Seeds project took place. Twelve participants—students from various natural‑science and social‑science disciplines—assisted the Goričko Nature Park in collecting seeds for the seed bank under the guidance of four botanists. At the same time, we presented the project, the work of a conservation biologist, and undulate Goričko landscape to the students in the field.

Most of the dry field days were spent in Goričko with collection bags in hands. We got to know characteristic species of the habitat type “semi-natural dry grasslands with orchid species.” Seeds were collected from a total of 18 meadows, scattered mostly across the eastern half of the nature park. One of the days was dedicated to another priority habitat type of eastern Slovenia—species-rich grasslands dominated by matgrass (Nardus stricta). We visited such grasslands in the Rogla area and were surprised by the number of gatherers of medicinal arnica there.

On one of the days, colleagues from the Slovenian Forestry Institute presented the Life IP CARE4CLIMATE project in the Goričko meadows. On the wet grasslands in Motvarjevci, they showcased parts of the project aimed at testing different methods of removing goldenrod, as well as conservation measures for butterfly species such as marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) and scarce large blue (Phengaris teleius). In Dolenci, we observed how different mowing regimes affect greenhouse gas emissions, which the Forestry Institute monitors using special measuring equipment.

Since the participants also expressed an interest in ornithology, we took them on a trip to the Rače fishponds, Lake Ptuj, and the Medvedce reservoir. We also observed birds in the Ormož Lagoons Nature Reserve, where we visited a duplicate of the seed bank established as part of the Life For Seeds project.

The camp organizers would like to thank Rače Primary School for their hospitality, the Goričko Nature Park and the Forestry Institute of Slovenia for the interesting presentation of the project, and all participants for the pleasant atmosphere in the field.