UNHIDE Agroforestry - A Knowledge Exchange Latvia- Sweden 2023-25 - Report - Page 37
woodland meadows, pastures, and dry grasslands
on calcareous soils, as well as forests and aquatic
biotopes in the process of being restored—or designated for restoration—based on the EU
Habitats Directive and Latvian regulations. The
farm’s owners, Ines Gmizo-Lārmane and Viesturs
Lārmanis, have worked with nature conservation
for over twenty years. In 2016, they moved to the
family farm.
Through the grazing of approximately 60 Scottish
Highland cattle, removal of trees and bushes, milling of stumps, sowing of semi-natural meadow
plants, and mowing of varied intensity, they have
successfully restored overgrown oak meadows.
Hylotelephium telephium.
According to data gathered in collaboration with
researchers from the University of Latvia, vegetation and species composition have shifted from
forest vegetation to biologically highly valuable
grassland vegetation.
The Bekas farm hosts more than 50 protected and
endangered species of plants, animals, and fungi,
including the orchid Orchis mascula and the beetle Osmoderma barnabita. The latter is among the
most emblematic endangered species characterizing wooded meadows, requiring decaying wood
within a network of veteran, hollow oaks to provide suitable habitats and maintain viable populations.
Veronica longifolia.
