In the EU Project, My Project competition, we learn about the diversity of the Zgornja Pivka basin

Pivka Municipality uses EU funding for nature conservation

The municipality of Pivka is one of the most successful Slovenian municipalities in terms of EU funds absorption. Pivka has been successful in using EU funding for establishing new infrastructure (e.g. wastewater treatment system, road infrastructure, etc.), energy efficiency, tourism development in the area and nature protection. For the last three years, the municipality has been implementing the PIVKA.KRAS.PRESIHA project, which has improved and preserved the status of some of Europe’s most important species and Natura 2000 habitats in the area of the Pivka Intermittent Lakes Landscape Park.

The project and the EU funding contributed to reducing overgrowth and restoring meadows to improve the status of butterflies and birds, restoring amphibian pools, and creating bat roosts in the Landscape Park. The project also focused on extensive cave cleaning in Slovenia, thus contributing to protecting the environment and the underground system, as well as drinking water. Project activities also covered upgrading the tourist infrastructure with the Ecomuseum of the Pivka Intermittent Lakes also being completely renovated. Visitors can learn about the specific characteristics of the Pivka landscape – the intermittent lakes and other habitats of special plants and animals and the people who live here.

This spring, the project was shortlisted along with 20 other projects in the final of the EU Project, My Project competition, sponsored by the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development. The success and importance of EU funding for nature conservation were also recognised more widely, as the project was ranked among the top three finalists of the EU Project, My Project competition in an online vote.

The diversity of the Zgornja Pivka basin

At the event The Diversity of Zgornja Pivka basin the results of the PIVKA.KRAS.PRESIHA project and the special representatives of the Park in the Pivka Intermittent Lakes Landscape Park were presented. The participants of the workshops learned about the life of bats – our nocturnal neighbours – and made a bat house for them. They learned about the specific characteristics of Pivka’s wet and dry meadows, which are famous for their exceptional flora and fauna, and whose management is key to Pivka’s farmers. In the ambiance of Kalc Castle, the participants learned about the remarkable trees and their role. The event was also attended by participants in the traditional Vilhar Trail Walk, which is organised in Zagorje in memory of the Slovenian poet Miroslav Vilhar, who lived and worked in Zgornja Pivka.