On August 22, 2024, the workshop Regional seed mixtures in ecological restoration took place in Benešov and also in the nearby Konopiště Castle Park. The Restoration Ecology Group organized the workshop within the TEAM#UP project for multiple reasons:
- to encourage the students of our partner school, Agricultural College and Agricultural Secondary School Benešov, to participate in the student projects and student exchanges of the TEAM#UP project.
- to encourage practitioners to take part in our survey mapping the national network in ecological restoration and to actively participate in this network.
- to collect seed biomass for the establishment of a demonstration site in the Agricultural College and Agricultural Secondary School Benešov, where their students will then have the opportunity to work on their student projects.
- to make the TEAM#UP project more visible.
In the first part of the workshop, Kamila Vítovcová introduced the issue of regional seed mixtures more broadly, followed by three interesting lectures on practical experience with the production of regional seed mixtures and the establishment of flowering stands using these mixtures in Šumava (Jakub Horomas), Prague (Michal Kubelík), and the surroundings of Prague (Pavel Jeřábek). The discussion on each presentation was rich and it is evident that this topic is very important and actual.
In the afternoon part of the workshop, the participants moved to the Konopiště Castle Park, where species-rich stands suitable for seed brushing were selected. There were four machines presented for seed harvesting: hand-guided Grass Graber and a hand-held harvester, both operated by the Czech Union for Nature Conservation Šumava, hand-guided Seed Monster from Prague, and a snow blower converted into a brush harvester.
The feedback from the participants on site was positive, which made the organizers very happy and satisfied.
Definitely a successful event to be repeated in Czech Republic and replicated in other countries!
#TeamUp2Restore