Ormož Basins Nature Reserve, owned by DOPPS – BirdLife Slovenia, covers approximately 66 ha. It consists of six lagoons, pastures, some meadows and forest. A herd of water buffalos is helping us maintain open farmland in the reserve.
In the beginning of December we enlarged the management area by purchasing a 1,09 ha plot of land at the southern border of the reserve. Up until now, this plot was an arable field. It will be converted into a species-rich meadow within LIFE FOR SEEDS, using green hay and seed mixtures harvested on the embankments of Lake Ptuj.
In Slovenia, experience with restoring arable fields into grasslands is scarce, so we will definitely be breaking new ground. After the end of the project, the management of this meadow will respect ecological demands of its species, which roughly means no fertilizers and one or two cuts per year. Its hay will be used as winter fodder for the water buffalos.
Restoration will presumably begin in summer 2022. The plot was purchased within the project LIFE FOR SEEDS (LIFE20 NAT/SI/000253), which is co-financed by the European Union from the LIFE Programme and Sigrid Rausing Trust.
