Friday, 6 May 2022 EDUFarm project – invitation for participation for farmers in protected areas in Slovenia

Managing a farm in a protected area is a challenge in itself, as a well-balanced relationship between the economy and nature conservation must be upheld. The pilot project EDUFarm (Preservation of biodiversity of agricultural landscape through development and integration of educational model in agricultural activity) that is led by researchers from the Department of Biodiversity at UP FAMNIT, focuses on developing an efficient and economically sustainable model of farm management conservation of biodiversity.

The project was created with the desire to raise awareness of farm owners and other target groups (schools, Universities, and general public) about the importance of conserving and protecting biodiversity in the agricultural and cultural landscape, identifying biodiversity indicators and developing an economically sustainable farm management model.

More information about the project and the research group, which also includes the Mahne Farm and the Lambergar Farm, can be found here.

Prof. Elena Bužan, PhD (project manager), >assistant Sandra Potušek and Aja Bončina have prepared a survey questionnaire, through which they want to gain insight and consider the perspective of the farmers in protected areas in Slovenia, and the importance of preserving biodiversity in the agricultural landscape.

The results gained from this survey will be the basis for the development of a decision tree, which will serve as a tool to improve the preservation of biodiversity on farms, while enabling them to make the best use of existing financial mechanisms i.e. government and EU support, available for biodiversity conservation.

The results will also provide an understanding for the reasoning behind potential non-use of these existing financial mechanisms. Subsequently, this would offer a more detailed insight into why the measures and financial support that is available for preservation of biodiversity in the agricultural landscape is not utilized systematically.

All farms in protected areas are invited to complete the questionnaire: https://1ka.arnes.si/a/ed095227