Community work campaign on meadow land for the central False Ringlet population in the Ljubljana Marsh

On Friday, 5th February 2016, we organised a community work campaign, where participants in the ‘People for the Marsh’ project manually removed excess wood undergrowth from the meadow containing the largest False Ringlet population in the Ljubljana Marsh. On this beautiful and perfectly cool day – so as not to disturb the caterpillars during their winter hibernation – we had just the right number of people (14) to cut the young bushes using both tree and garden shears taking care not to trample excessively through the meadow vegetation.

In the meadow, which was mown in accordance with the project agreement on the implementation of nature-conservation measures in October 2015 (circa 1 hectare), we cut 10 to 20 centimetre-high stems of Alder Buckthorn and Willow that remained after mowing. Of the remaining habitat (circa 1.5 hectares) of the central population, which has not been mown within the last two years (in 2014 due to excessive precipitation, and in 2015 due to the implementation of the ‘People for the Marsh’ project objective – improving the quality of the False Ringlet habitat), we only removed part of the young wooded undergrowth and left some individual stubby bushes (up to a height of 1 metre) in the meadow, which will provide the necessary shelter for butterflies during strong winds or high air temperatures during the summer months.

In addition to the winter sunshine, our spirits were further raised by the tasty and refreshing snack, as well as very pleasant company.

Coffe brake, Photo: Čelik T.

Partners at work, Photo: Čelik T.