The River Slampe project
ĶNP invites you to find out about significant changes in the local ecosystem in the Slampe municipality (Tukums district).
During the Soviet times, meadows surrounded by the forests were cleared of all the shrubs, and River Slampe was straightened through a direct and deep channel cutting through the whole meadows.
Within the framework of LIFE-Nature project the river has a chance to be restored in its originally weaving shape. The benefits of it are not only visually pleasing but it also increases the surface area where the running water and the soil interact. At the moment, it needs time to re-naturalise but within the next few years, when the vegetation of the river and its banks restore, it will create new habitats and feeding sites for numerous animals who depend on water. The blocked melioration ditches will overgrow gradually and will be a perfect spawning site for amphibians and other water-living creatures. In spring, the river will flood the meadow and many migrating and local bird species will gather here. In summer, corncrakes and other floodplain bird species will nest in the lush meadows, and black storks will hunt fish in the river.
In the enclosure of the Heck cattle and konik horses
Important changes to the ecosystem of the Dundurpļavu meadows will be brought by free-ranging Heck cattle and konik horses. These are special breeds created from domestic cattle and horses that are similar to aurochs and tarpans that once roamed in the wild in park-like forests and meadows. Opposite to livestock, these animals can feed on plants, which are much poorer in nutrients and easily survive harsh winters. Their main task in the ecosystem is to maintain short vegetation in the meadow preventing its overgrowing by shrubs and trees, which ensures the existence of meadow animals species.
Konik horses and Heck cattle co-exist with the neighbouring red deer , roe deer and wild boar that come to graze to the same meadows at night time. Foxes are interested in these new animals as well as a wolf, which pays an occasional visit to them.
Free-ranging cattle and konik horses avoid wolf attacks by living in big groups where strong bulls or stallions defend weaker animals that are inside the circle that the herd forms.
Blocking the drainage ditches around the bog
Blocking the drainage ditches around the ca. 6000 ha Ķemeru Lielais tīrelis bog that were once made in order to drain the bog is one of the most important tasks of the nature management in the park. According to the special design, smaller and bigger dams will be built. They will restore the original moisture level in the bog’s ‘organism’ that is like a huge peat sponge. That will prevent the overgrowing of the bog by trees and will eventually restore the original bog landscape. Water level increase is particularly important in the peat-cutting fields that were used last century. Initially, fens and transition bog habitats will form, which play a significant role in the biodiversity. In the future, the constant high moisture level will ensure a faster vegetation regeneration and formation of a raised bog in the area of the former peat-cutting fields.
Last revision 01-05-2007
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