On 3th June 2016 first Little Ringed Plover chicks were hatched. Till now we found more than 30 nests of this mysterious inhabitant of river gravel bars for whom river Drava is the most important breeding site in Slovenia.

With a research which is a part of project LIVEDRAVA we strive to find out how many Little Ringed Plover chicks live to their first flight and how many of them as of how many of their parents return to Drava gravel bars in the following year. Findings will help us guide future nature conservations efforts and concrete actions in the area.

In a short clip bellow you can watch a day old Little Ringed Plover chicks warming up beneth their father. At this age they don’t have sufficient thermoregulation system and they have to get some warmth (and love) from their parents. Enjoy!

On 3th June 2016 first Little Ringed Plover chicks were hatched. Till now we found more than 30 nests of this mysterious inhabitant of river gravel bars for whom river Drava is the most important breeding site in Slovenia. More

There have been quite some river restoration projects in Europe in last few years. People recognized that past river managament practices were not sustainable and efficient and left deep scars on river ecosystems across Europe and whole world. For efficent and sustainable river restoration actions modern approach is needed which involves cooperation with nature conservationists and researchers acros the wider area.

To address this need for exchange of knowledge we organized an excursion to Slovakia. On 27th of May DOPPS LIVEDRAVA project team together with some colleagues from project partners VGB and VGP visited several river restoration sites along Donaube river. Local NGO BROZ showed us their river restoration work done through two LIFE projects; LIFE BEESANDFISH (LIFE12 NAT/SK/1137) and Restoration of NATURA 2000 sites in cross-border Bratislava capital region (LIFE10 NAT/SK/080)..

The sites we visited along Donaube river include Velkolélsky ostrov (opening of a river sidearm, livestock grasland managing), Devinska Kobyla (sandbanks managing, livestock grasland managing) and Devinsko rameno (opening of a river sidearm).

We thank our colleagues form BROZ for their time and excellent guidance and we hope for some more future opportunities to work together for the conservation of this fragile river ecosystem.

Photo: Tilen Basle

There have been quite some river restoration projects in Europe in last few years. People recognized that past river managament practices were not sustainable and efficient and left deep scars on river ecosystems across Europe and whole world. For efficent and sustainable river restoration actions modern approach is needed which involves cooperation with nature conservationists and researchers acros the wider area. More