Rocky karst pastures are also habitats for a wide range of species whose survival depends on them. The abandonment of livestock farming on the Kvarner islands has led to the overgrowth of once widespread rocky grasslands that had been established and maintained for centuries.
The issue of overgrowing dry grassland areas in Croatia has been recognised and well researched for a long time and is not limited to the Kvarner region alone. However, the structure of grassland overgrowth and the process of identifying areas that should be prioritised for restoration are far less well understood.
Therefore, through the LIFE SUPport project, we investigated the overgrowth structure of dry grasslands on the Kvarner islands and developed a protocol for prioritising areas for restoration, in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for both biodiversity and extensive livestock farming through grassland restoration.
More information about our methodology and the results achieved can be found in the reports, and the results are also available for download in digital format (shp).
