Grassland Restoration Technician - Latvian Fund for Nature
Introduction
This report outlines the role and responsibilities of Ella Christie while completing an internship with the Latvian Fund for Nature for a period of nine weeks in Summer 2021. This internship has been completed following the guidelines provided by the EMCDE program for the receipt of 12 credits (ECTS). Information regarding the role, tasks carried out, learning objectives, and a review of the internship experience are outlined below.
Internship Background
Organisation – Latvian Fund for Nature
The Latvian Fund for Nature is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded in 1990 with the aim of restoring and preserving biodiversity and habitats throughout Latvia. They carry out projects in several areas of conservation including species-specific conservation projects, protected habitats, climate change, and education. One of the ongoing projects currently run by the organisation is GrassLIFE; its purpose of the “Restore EU priority grasslands and promoting their multiple uses”. The project involves working with multiple project partners to restore grassland habitats within NATURA 2000 sites and improve their conservation status.
Internship Description and Learning Objectives
My internship position was on the GrassLIFE project, helping the team achieve their 2023 goals for increased restoration and conservation of protected grassland habitats. Within the main GrassLIFE project were several sub-units all focused on individual tasks to reach the overall project goals. My supervisor was Rūta Sniedze, she was responsible for several project goals including urban meadow restoration in Riga Municipality and a citizen science project providing seeds to interested members of the public to plant one square meter of meadow on their properties. My duty was to assist Rūta on these tasks and provide technical assistance using spatial analysis and mapping.
The learning objectives communicated with me by the organisation were to apply knowledge attained from my studies and apply it to the project tasks to help the organisation achieve their conservation goals. In my case, apply geospatial methods and techniques that I have learned from the CDE program and use them to aid in the restoration and conservation of grassland habitats.
Internship Tasks and Duties
Once I arrived in Riga, I met with my supervisor to discuss my skills and interests and how these could be applied to the tasks assigned to me for the duration of my internship. It was agreed on top of the responsibilities outlined in my internship agreement that I would also conduct further research using spatial analysis to help achieve the project goals.
One of my key responsibilities was to create new and update existing habitat maps for the grassland projects. This included maps for Riga’s urban meadow project and the citizen science plant a square metre project. I used ArcGIS collector in the field to survey new meadow sites and update boundaries or information for existing ones. This involved mapping areas of meadow sites, plotting areas and lines where plant transects and vegetation analysis had occurred and when the site had been visited etc. My main research project during my internship was to use data pertaining to the existing urban meadow project in Riga Municipality to try to locate potential areas to restore into grassland. Using various spatial analysis methods, I had to take into account current land use, habitat type and distance to existing sites. My goal for creating maps like this was to show the potential of habitat connectivity for the urban meadow project in Riga, increasing habitat connectivity boosts quality, which was one of the key aims for the whole GrassLIFE project.
The tasks assigned to me within the GrassLIFE project were divided into two main areas: Urban meadows in the Riga municipality and the square meter plots that were sown the previous year. The urban meadow project involved visiting both existing and planned locations for grassland restoration in Riga, assessing them and then using that information to formulate a management plan. For example, Riga zoo expressed interest in planting a meadow habitat at their facility. I met with them to discuss the precise location and size they wanted and the feasibility of their wishes. I then measured out the area and conducted a survey to identify the soil type and vegetation currently growing. As the soil was in reasonably good condition and factoring in that Riga zoo would be a good location to promote the work of Latvian fund for nature, it was decided for a more immediate result that a small section of meadow turf would be lifted from a farmer’s property before he mowed it and transferred to Riga zoo. ArcGIS Collector was used to map the new urban meadow locations; a polygon of the area was drawn and lines were plotted where vegetation transects had been conducted. Vegetation surveys were carried out by measuring out a 30-meter line within the meadow and identifying all of the vegetation within a two square meter plot at five-metre intervals. The diversity of species plus the presence of indicator species gave an idea of habitat quality and restoration progress which was documented in an inventory to monitor the areas.
Similar methods were used to monitor the square metre plots planted by members of the public. The different plots were visited and documented using ArcGIS collector, noting the location, a picture of the plot and information relating to its conditions. Both the square meter and a surrounding 30-metre transect were surveyed to monitor the growth of meadow species in the plot and immediate area. The progress of these areas will continue to be documented in the coming years. As this project is ongoing, another mass delivery of seed packets will be carried out later this year to new locations. To provide a diverse array of seed packets to members of the public to plant, seeds were collected from approximately 50 different meadow species from grassland habitats in Natura 2000 sites. This involved identifying numerous plant species in their seed dispersal life stage and manually collecting them.
Internship Review
What did I learn?
There are a lot of new things that I have learned over the course of my internship. One area that was still relatively new to me was mapping in the field using ArcGIS Collector. It was a really useful tool to be able to map and survey new areas in real-time.
I did not have that much knowledge of plant ecology or grassland habitat identification when I first began this internship. I was surrounded by many highly knowledgeable people at Latvian Fund for Nature and was able to soak in a lot of highly useful and interesting information, particularly for plant identification. It was interesting to learn more about how conservation is perceived in a new country and the status of different habitats and biodiversity within Latvia.
The biggest learning curve for me was being responsible for finding ways that spatial analysis could be applied using the data available to benefit the organisation and their project goals. This allowed me the opportunity to design and manage my own project identifying potential new locations for the urban meadow project and trying to improve habitat connectivity for urban meadows in Riga municipality.
What did I achieve?
I believe that I achieved a lot within this internship, most vitally the ability to apply what I have learned from my studies so far into real-world conservation issues. It has been my goal for a long-time to bridge the gap between conservation and geo-spatial disciplines, this internship was the perfect opportunity to do so. My supervisor was very encouraging in allowing me to incorporate more spatial analysis and mapping into my work to help achieve the various tasks I was assigned. One of my biggest achievements was showing that spatial analysis can be incredibly useful in conservation and can easily be utilised to help in decision making which I hope that the Latvian Fund for Nature will continue to do.
One of my biggest achievements was learning how to work independently in a GIS-analyst position. I was able to be responsible for my own research and analysis and put forward my own ideas as to how they could be used to benefit the project. This has greatly increased my confidence in my mapping and analytical capabilities. Using my own initiative and setting my own targets and goals to achieve what was expected of me helped me improve my ability to be accountable for myself in a work environment.
Plant identification, particularly with grassland species can be very challenging in the beginning. There were on average 20-30 species per square metre of standard grassland habitat, several of which were identical. I really enjoyed the identification skills I acquired in my short time here.
Conclusion
Overall, I had a very positive experience during my internship. I admire the hard work that the Latvian Fund for Nature is doing to fight back against the large-scale habitat loss and degradation in Latvia in recent decades. I have full confidence that thanks to their efforts, grassland habitats will make a successful recovery in the future.
The learning curve was quite steep as there is a lot of information that you need to know in order to complete the tasks which were expected of me, particularly plant identification. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the challenges that were presented to me during this internship. One of the things I enjoyed most was having the opportunity to use what I have learned through my courses this year in conservation. I was able to put forward my own ideas for how geoinformatics can be applied to the organisation's project goals and tasks and demonstrate how important spatial analysis is for conservation which is the reason why I applied to this masters program in the first place.
I appreciated how accommodating the organisation was for hearing my ideas and using my suggestions for their work. I am currently writing a conservation plan for Latvian Fund for Nature on how spatial analysis could be applied to achieve project goals, the methodology, and recommended steps for future conservation planning.
I also liked how the organisation invested in us gaining experiences outside of the work environment such as organising intern trips on weekends to help us explore Latvia. Through fieldwork, I was able to explore regions across Latvia and was even able to camp out on the beach and have other great experiences.
