Third Project Meeting in Zvolen, November 2019

The third meeting of the AGFOSY project took place in Zvolen, Slovakia on 7th and 8th of November 2019, where representatives of organizations from France, Slovakia, Hungary, Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic had the opportunity to meet and discuss the state and development of the project. The two-year project is now in the halfway and partners have already completed case studies describing the current agroforestry measures practiced by farmers in each partner country. In parallel, work is also underway to develop study materials for students/farmers and to develop curricula for professional trainers to provide literature, abstracts and other educational materials that will help improve skills and disseminate knowledge of significant agroforestry measures in practice – such as line planting of trees associated with plant agricultural production, or formerly common grazing in orchards, technically called silvopastoral agroforestry systems. Again, it should be remembered that agroforestry is not new, it is the return of long-forgotten and much-needed measures to agricultural management and the rural landscape.

Working meeting in Zvolen

The first day of the meeting was focused on the current development of the project at the National Forest Center in Zvolen, which is the project partner and hosted this meeting. Objectives were discussed with regard to the time schedule, individual outputs and all other requirements. The second day of the meeting was dedicated to visiting Slovak agroforestry systems in the countryside. In Slovakia, for researchers are agroforestry quite a new topic, including Slovak farmers. At the same time, Slovakia is a country where natural agroforestry systems had their place and tradition for centuries, for example in the form of grazing sheep in orchards. They were only somewhat forgotten due to the intensive large-scale farming, which we know so well in our country and in other post-communist countries.

Organic farm Turová

The first place of the field visit was the Organic Farm Turová, not far from Zvolen, where in ecological regime the farmer Peter Badiar manages 235 ha of grassland. Since 2006, the farm has focused exclusively on the breeding of beef cattle. At the same time, the owner runs a small organic slaughterhouse with a shop directly on the farm. The owner guided the farm partners and introduced the agroforestry elements on his land. It is predominantly red oak and summer oak on sloping grassy meadows. Agroforestry was discovered by Peter Badiar in 2013 when he modified the surrounding overgrown pastures according to his principles. ‘Reclamation’ was started to obtain pastures that were more valuable to cattle. The farmer believes that agroforestry management should always be combined with other measures enhancing the ecological value of the landscape, such as measures to promote water retention in the landscape.

Gavurky – pastures preserved since the Middle Ages

The second field trip was Gavurky, near the village of Dobré Niva in Zvolen district. A charming place – oak grove with centuries-old trees of indescribable shapes, each of which looks impressive, mysterious and completely unrepeatable. The majority of oaks are estimated to be two hundred years old. However, there are also some up to four hundred years old trees that reach six meters in the trunk circumference. The oak grove is spread on a 67 hectare grassy ground. From ancient times until the beginning of the last century it was customary that the sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs but only grazed in meadows, but also to the sparse woods. Today, such grazing areas are very rare, most of them overgrown with beech trees and shrubbery or new trees, or have been completely deforested and converted into fields and meadows. That is why the Gavurka oak grove is one of the best preserved tree pastures in Central Europe and is visited by fauna and flora experts from all over Europe. These 600 trees on an area of ​​67 hectares are unique in Europe. The protected area of ​​Gavurka is open to pedestrians who can come here and enjoy a stay in nature among these exceptional giants. The site is a highly protected area of ​​European importance.