The project was implemented with the financial support of the Province of Overeisel of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries and the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands, within the frame of the Eurograssland projects. In Latvia our collaboration partner was the Latvian Agricultural Consultancy and Educational Support Centre at Ozolnieki.

Project implementation began in 1998, when botanically valuable meadows were mapped in the protected stretch of the Abava Valley between Kandava and Renda. In order to collect information about the effect of different management practices on the plant communities of botanically valuable meadows, choose the most suitable form of management for these meadows and promote its introduction elsewhere as well, monitoring of meadow management was begun as a continuation of the Abava Valley meadow project. One permanent vegetation test square was established on a farmstead, where the meadows were managed in the same manner for more than five years, and on two other farms where in 2000, encouraged by the project, the farmers recommenced management of the meadows after an interruption of more than five years. At one site, mowing recommenced, while at the other ten ‘Latvian dark-headed’ breed sheep, bought for project funds intended for this purpose, were put out to pasture on the slope and terrace of the valley. A variety of characteristic meadow plant communities were selected for observation, as well as fallow-land where the natural meadow vegetation was regenerating. Test squares were also established in meadows where mowing was to recommence. Each of the three test squares was established in three different areas, differing in terms of management, position in the relief and the complex of grassland plant communities. Altogether, vegetation survey was performed in 63 permanent 1m2 test squares, arranged in transects. During the project, soil samples were taken and analysed for each meadow vegetation type.