From September 2nd to 6th, a summer school for students, researchers, and the general public took place in the Škocjan Caves Park. The event was jointly organized by the E-NAT2CARE and ENGREEN 2 projects. The main goal of the summer school was to explore the Beka Landscape Park and its surroundings. Participants were divided into groups focused on amphibians, reptiles, birds, beetles, and botany, with one day dedicated to learning about ecosystem services.
The research week began with an excursion to Beka Landscape Park, where participants were introduced to the study area. For the remainder of the week, participants, together with their mentors, explored the area in their respective groups.
One day of the summer school was dedicated to learning and exploring ecosystem services. On this day, representatives from the strategic project Kras-Carso II joined us to present their project activities and the process of establishing the cross-border Kras-Carso Geopark. Since the Beka Landscape Park is part of this projected geopark, the Kras-Carso II project representatives presented to us which geological features from this area will be included. At the same time, participants were introduced to ecosystem services and the method of ecosystem service assessment. Water resources were chosen as the topic for researching ecosystem services in the Beka Landscape Park. The participants prepared a survey on the selected topic and involved the local population from the area around the Park. In the next phase of the E-NAT2CARE project, more activities related to ecosystem services will be carried out in the remaining Natura 2000 Kras area.
Thursday evening was dedicated to the presentation of the research work and the obtained results. The last day concluded with a tour of the Škocjan Caves and Rosalium (a pyramid of fresh logs intended for observing the alpine longhorn beetle in nature. Its key purpose is education and monitoring the occurrence of this Natura 2000 species).
The Summer school was carried out in collaboration with the University of Primorska - Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technology, Municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina, National Institute of Biology and Municipality of San Dorligo della Valle - Občina Dolina.
