The project manager, Latvian Natural Fund expert Rūta Sniedze-Kretalova, said: “What we are sowing in the grasslands of the city is wild plants of Latvia, such as maiden pinks, clover, cowslip. Also gorgeous weeds like cornflowers and poppies. The meadow is not a one-year ecosystem but a long-term ecosystem, so if poppies or cornflowers are to blossom next year, they will then disappear because they are not meadow plants, but the beautiful weeds of the field. Unfortunately, we cannot expect a very rapid result with wild meadows, because the plants are developing very slowly, they need time to develop the root system first, and many plants will not blossom even in the second summer. So we have to start creating them now to see the results even after several years."
On Sunday, November 6, the construction of the tenth and final meadow in Rīga took place near Akmens Bridge.
These meadows will not have to be mown and thus allow to save resources. A lot of work has been done this season and it has been difficult, the project manager said: “There have been occasions where there are a lot of people gathered to help. There have been such where one person comes. But it's so cool and lovely that anyway people follow the process and want to take part in it all. Because that's the thing we can do for the city.”
The Urban Biodiversity Project in Riga, in cooperation with Tartu in Estonia and Aarhus in Denmark, will continue for several years.
