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From Transylvania to the Itchen Valley: Reviving Traditional Meadow Skills

Rachel Remnant Fellow of 2016

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CONTENTS PRELIMINARIES Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………3

Abbreviations and glossary………………..…………………………………………4

About Rachel Remnant…………………………………………………………………5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

What was researched? (The questions I wanted to answer)………..6

Major Findings………………………………………………………………………………6

Recommendations……………………………………………………………………....7

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT

Background…………………………………………………………………………..………8

Aims, objectives and purpose of the project ………………………………..9

Approach and Methods…………………………………………………………………9

What I did……………………………………………………………………………………..9

Why Transylvania?.........................................................................10

FINDINGS

Survival…………………………………………………………………………….………….12

Champions: inspiring individuals………………………………………….………14

Scale……………………………………………………………………………………….……21

Reverberation…………………………………………………………………..……….. 24

Connection and recognition………………………………………………………..29

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………31

IMPLEMENTATION AND DISSEMINATION PLAN………………….……..33

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………….34

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS He doesn’t know this, but William Blacker lit the fuse. Reading ‘Along The Enchanted Way’, inspired me to take up the cause of traditional skills. His account of life in the Transylvanian villages showed me that traditional skills have a place now, not just in the past: for farming, wildlife and community cohesion.

Kat Vandenburg, thank you for suggesting I pursue a Churchill Fellowship. It’s good to have an adventurous anthropologist friend who knows these things!

Barbara Knowles, who said, “yes, come to Transylvania, this is the place you need to be”. She died in 2016, I’ll be one of many who continue to be inspired by her legacy.

Rosie Trevelyan from the Tropical Biology Association, for helping me draft my initial application to WCMT. Wasn’t it lucky that you were in Hungary, to put me in touch with Tibor?

Tibor Hartel, thank you for being an attentive Social Ecologist. I didn’t even know the subject existed. Now I can unite my passion for ecology and sociology.

Emma Rothero and Ann Skinner: I’m so pleased I came to your Floodplain Meadows Partnership Steering Group. When Owen and Ann endorsed that I should go to Transylvania, it highlighted that traditional skills are part of the future for the UK’s floodplain meadows.

Owen Mountford, thank you for your optimism, pragmatism and recommendations for my Romanian itinerary. They were invaluable in helping me complete the second stage of my Fellowship application.

Nat Page from Fundatia ADEPT who introduced me to the smallholders, farmers, decision makers and scientists in the Tavarna Mare region. Thank you for encouraging my seed of an idea to grow.

It is with tears in my eyes that I send gratitude and grit to my host families. They live hard working, passionate lives, farming with traditional skills in a fast changing world. Gerda and Nico Gherghiceanu, Catalin Tomita, Attila Sarig. Your knowledge and wisdom is vital, keep sharing it!

Mum Carol Breckenridge, cousin Fiona Remnant you are my fellow women warriors. Thanks for the emotional and intellectual support, I needed it.

Husband Charlie Elderton and son Archie Elderton who came along for the adventure. Sorry for the long distance road trips and swearing.

Finally, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. I nearly forgot to mention you! I love my job as a Reserves Officer in Winchester. It’s been truly challenging at times, but you offset that by supporting staff in their development. That self-determination is what helps the nature conservation movement grow. Martin De Retuerto and Ali Morse, your references showed me what I was capable of. Thank you to all my colleagues and volunteers who kept the nature reserves running smoothly while I was away.

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ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY

Hayrick A relatively large, sometime thatched, pile of hay.

HNV High Nature Value (area)

Milk collection point A building containing a chilled tank where milk is deposited from multiple sources.

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation.

Peen (in the context of a scythe) to hit the sharp edge of the blade with a hammer to improve sharpness before applying a whetstone.

Restitution (of land) the restoration of land to the original owner after it has been lost or taken away.

Rowing up Raking cut grass into rows. Usually to collect up the hay, or to protect from rain.

SAC Special Area of Conservation. A European designation that recognises areas of wildlife habitat containing special areas of rare wildlife.

Scythe A metal blade connected to a length of wood that is used to cut fields.

Scything The act of cutting grass and other tall plants.

SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest. Areas of the UK that are recognised as the best remaining examples of habitats or geology.

Swathe a line or row of cut grass or plants left after mowing or cutting. Also used to describe the area that will be cut.

Ted To turn over and spread out grass to dry.

Tine Tooth of a rake.

Traditional Skills Practices which have evolved and developed over long periods of time. Associated with specific crafts or types of management.

Whetstone A fine grained stone used for sharpening tools.

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About Rachel Remnant Growing up in the dilapidated market gardening village of Meldreth, my childhood was infused with playing in the orchard, keeping a menagerie of animals and generally mucking about in the countryside. This was the 1980s. We explored abandoned farms and saw the effects of intensive agriculture. My dad would tell me stories of Hazeleigh, the farm my Granny ran, with teams of apple pickers, horses, physical labour and the wildlife around them. My parents split up and I moved to Grimsby for my secondary school and college years, then attended the University of Liverpool to study Zoology. The combination of rural freedom in early childhood and exposure to urban decay and regenerative projects in my teens gave me a sociological view of the UK. My own life history, of family breakup and upheaval gave me acute empathy and interest in other peoples’ lives. Binding me together through this has been the land. In 2002 I took up a Nature Reserves traineeship with Beds, Cambs and Northants Wildlife Trust. I hadn’t anticipated it, but I loved carrying out practical conservation work, surveying wildlife, engaging with visitors and inspiring people about the natural world. In 2015, after 11 years as a Reserves Officer with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, I felt I needed a new challenge. It wasn’t a change of job, or new project. I wanted to go back in time. I wanted to see how hundreds of years of consistent management had shaped the meadows that I manage. It wasn’t just the scything, making of hay ricks and hand digging of ditches that had disappeared, it was the people who did this work. This report is written from the heart, with scientific references to keep its feet on the ground. I hope that it inspires people to explore their understanding of meadows and make a personal connection with biodiversity and local farmers.

Winnall Moors Nature Reserve, by Martin De Retuerto. The pink flowers are ragged robin.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The UK’s reputation as a ‘green and pleasant land’ masks a sad loss. Over the past 100 years our wildflower rich meadows have vanished, due to agricultural changes and development. The traditional practices and customs associated with meadows are at risk of disappearing too. In order to restore our wildlife rich meadows we need to reconnect people to the land and how it is managed. In Transylvania, Romania, traditional farming has maintained large areas of species-rich grasslands. This Churchill Fellowship investigates how reviving traditional meadow skills play a pivotal role in restoring the UK’s meadows to a rich tapestry of colour and life.

Major Findings

Transylvania, Romania has some of the best High Nature Value (HNV) areas. The landscapes are in full ecological “working order” with wild species and natural habitats in balance with sustainable farming practices, intimately linked to the small scale farming communities who work within them, agriculture and nature are still intact.

Fundatia ADEPT ’10 year report 2004-2014: Ten years of protecting landscapes and communities in Transylvania’

High Nature Value grasslands are good for wildlife, ecosystem services and people. The grasslands provide homes for rare plants, nectar sources for bees, and food and nesting sites for birds. HNV grasslands capture carbon, store water, reduce flooding and make space for people to enjoy the landscape. The grassland is used to rear livestock, generates milk and supports milk products such as local cheeses and butter. Despite the high value products that meadows deliver, the meadows are easy to destroy by drainage, application of fertilisers and herbicides and they are often built on or developed. Once High Nature Value grassland is damaged or destroyed its values are lost too. The mechanisation of agriculture has meant fewer people are required to work the land. In the space of two generations, people have been disconnected from the land they depend on for their life support. It is recognised that time in nature and connection to the land are vital for human wellbeing. In my report I explore the multiple benefits that collaborative and physically challenging work on the land can have on mental health and community cohesion. This is ‘mindful’ work, mastering technical skills. Added to this, the act of working as a team offers opportunities to rediscover community traditions and customs.

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Hay making has been practiced for thousands of years. Whilst it would be impractical to abandon mechanisation across a whole farm, making hay by hand gives people the chance to regularly visit and interact with a meadow. The sensory, emotional, physical and social experience maps neural pathways, building a strong bond to the land. The familiarity with the meadow generates care and protection for the things it gives to us. Most importantly it makes us feel more human. When people are self-aware and empowered they can be wiser in their decision making and celebrate their achievements. Setting up sections of meadow for communities to make hay enables teams of up to 30 people, from a pool of 100, to meet and get to know the meadow. Repeat engagement with the place, mentored by knowledgeable practitioners, taps people into the skills and the wider network of scything, meadow restoration and social contact.

Recommendations

1. Include traditional meadow skills as part of farm / land management, to keep the skills alive.

2. Involve local people in meadow management by making some of the hay by hand.

3. Provide opportunities for repeat engagement via: (a) Practical work, such as scything, hay turning and building hay

ricks. (b) Hands on wildlife surveys such as small mammal trapping, riverfly

monitoring and bird ringing. (c) Guided walks, talks and courses to deepen people’s

understanding. 4. Celebrate traditional meadow skills and promote their benefits with

community events, activities and merriment.

These are recommendations which can be acted upon at a community level, but a more significant and longer term challenge lies at a national level:

5. Reform land ownership to ensure that those seeking to manage land sustainably have the opportunity to take up farming and make a living from it.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT

Background In England and Wales, lowland species rich grassland has declined by 98% since 1930. It is estimated that England’s remaining lowland meadows cover 7,282 Ha (Bullock et al. 2011). The destruction and fragmentation of this habitat has caused populations of once widespread plants and animals to dramatically decline and become locally extinct. There are two key changes to agriculture that have altered our relationship with meadows.

1. Hay was previously required as feed for work horses, oxen and livestock. These have been replaced by machinery, which doesn’t eat hay.

2. Mechanization of agriculture. Meadows can be farmed by one person, using a tractor. This is in stark contrast to 2000 years of local people working together to help cut, turn, gather and store hay.

As a consequence most people in the UK would struggle to know what species rich hay was, let alone list all of its benefits and values. How can we reconnect people with hay and meadows, to safeguard their future?

Haymaking John Clare (1793-1864)

‘Tis haytime and the red-complexioned sun Was scarcely up ere blackbirds had begun Along the meadow hedges here and there To sing loud songs to the sweet-smelling air Where breath of flowers and grass and happy cow Fling o’er one’s senses streams of fragrance now while in some pleasant nook the swain and maid Lean o’er their rakes and loiter in the shade Or bend a minute o’er the bridge and throw Crumbs in their leisure to the fish below —Hark at that happy shout—and song between ‘Tis pleasure’s birthday in her meadow scene. What joy seems half so rich from pleasure won As the loud laugh of maidens in the sun?

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Aims, objectives and purpose of the project

1. Travel to Transylvania, Romania, to develop my knowledge of hay meadows. Collect notes, video and undertake interviews to understand the history and how people connect with the High Nature Value Area.

2. Learn traditional hay meadow skills such as scything and building of hayricks by working with the local Romanian communities. Collect information on management techniques and practice doing them.

3. Assess the values of meadows to local people in Transylvania via conversations and interviews.

4. Teach 90 local volunteers and communities in the Itchen Valley and South Downs how to manage their meadows to benefit wildlife via monthly work parties and community hay making days.

5. Deliver 4 talks, 4 guided walks and 2 courses in Winchester per year, referring to meadow management in Romania.

6. Investigate how people value their local meadows. Does involving people with the management increase their connection to the land and help them look after it? Trial research methods to evaluate this.

Approach and Methods Churchill Fellowships are offered to UK citizens to acquire innovate ideas abroad. In the process they gain fresh perspectives on their own field of interest and return with enhanced expertise, able to be more effective at work and in their contribution to the community. This is summed up in the tag line, “Travel to learn, return to inspire.” The knowledge exchange is two-way with long-lasting connections made between Fellows and their hosts, creating valuable overseas networks. From late July until late August 2016 I visited four different areas of Transylvania. Weeks one, three and four were ‘immersive’ - spending time with three different hosts. Week two was a tour of five different places taking in a range of geographical and cultural areas to compare the way of life associated with local meadows. The week-long stays were successful for building relationships and opening up opportunities to understand rural life. The hosts were booked in advance and meetings with further contacts were arranged once I arrived. As far as possible, I arranged accommodation at farm stays, which deepened my understanding of the daily way of life, production of food and gender roles. Two hosts were suggested by projects which work with farmers in the Saxon and Hungarian cultural areas. The final week was arranged by a Romanian who is a researcher in social ecology at a local university.

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At each location I was able to meet local farmers, take part in rural life and take a hands-on role, helping to make hay and join in with local customs. Local conservation NGOs and researchers provided me with opportunities to speak with staff and arrange visits to see places such as milk collection points.

The magic of Măgura: the patchwork landscape of small meadows cut at different times by the various owners. Fences keep livestock on the pasture and out of the meadows so that the crop of hay can grow. Small fenced vegetable plots grow potatoes, carrot, maize and greens. Note the ramp leading up to the hayloft. Fruit trees are grown which are used to make preserves and brandy. Other bushes and trees mark boundaries. In the distance you can see areas of meadow that have been abandoned (not cut) and now are overgrown with pine and silver birch.

Why Transylvania? Transylvania translates as ‘land beyond the forest’. It is defined by the curve of the Carpathian mountains to the south and east, and the Apuseni mountains to the west. The geography of Romania can make an ecologist giddy. One third of the country is mountains, home to brown bear, wolves and lynx. The alpine meadows, rivers, wetlands, rolling hillsides of wildflowers and wood pasture, are populated not only by abundant wildlife, but by the rural communities of people who live and farm there: shepherds on the pasture, charcoal makers in the woods and communities who are 85% self-sufficient in food. For visitors from Britain, it is as if they have travelled back in time. The way of life in Transylvania reflects stories of rural life told by our grandparents. Transylvania produces a nostalgia - for the wildlife and traditional practices lost from the UK. It is

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this longing that has supported the setting up of successful conservation projects such as Fundatia ADEPT, Pogány-Havas Association (Pagan Snow Cap Association) and involvement by figureheads including HRH Prince Charles. Over the past ten years rural Transylvanian life has been changing fast. Some villages have invested in community projects such as milk collection points and cheese making facilities, but others have lost the next generation to emigration. This means that the rural skills and local produce networks are at risk of being lost and forgotten. Meanwhile, the UK’s latest State of Nature report, released in 2016, identifies 60% of wildlife species at risk of extinct. In addition the report ranks the UK 189 out of 218 countries assessed for its Biodiversity Intactness Index. The reality on the ground is that our remaining wildlife habitats are small, isolated and at risk, while climate change threatens to disrupt life cycles and food availability. Ecologists and community leaders are calling on decision makers to take action, but without public support, it is difficult to stimulate backing for urgent change. In 2017, the big question is, how do we reconnect people with nature? How do we plan a sustainable future? Could Transylvania hold the answer, could it help us rebuild a connection to the land? Mălâncrav, a sheep and goat shepherd with his dogs on the hillside pasture, with wet grassland in the valley bottom, crops of maize and lucerne, pasture and then hornbeam forests on the far side.

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FINDINGS The organisations I visited and how they were different to the UK are discussed under the following five themes. Additionally, the themes also discuss how my findings in Romania relate back to the UK.

1. Survival 2. Champions: inspiring individuals 3. Scale 4. Embodied reverberation 5. Connection and recognition

1. Survival

“Traditional farming is still practiced but it is declining. The trend is towards intensification so we should reward the small scale farmer.”

From Roman times until the middle of the 1800’s all hay was made by hand. Wildflowers, invertebrates, birds and mammals have developed populations associated with this habitat. Without hay meadows these species are at risk. (Bullock, 2011) What is a meadow? Grassland which is cut and cleared to make hay. Why make hay? To improve animal health and longevity by providing livestock with nutritious feed out of season. The cutting and drying of grasses and forbs transforms perishable forage into a product that can be safely stored and transported. Making hay is a science and an art form. To make hay it is necessary to reduce the moisture content of the plant from 70-90% down to 20-25%. The hay is cut during a period of hot and dry weather between late spring and summer. The earliest date will be reliant on the vegetation being sufficiently tall to make cutting worthwhile. The latest date will determine the resulting hay quality. Ideally hay is made when the plants have maximum goodness above ground which is indicated by the plant beginning to form seed, but not yet running to seed (see the Floodplain Meadows Partnership guidance, ‘When do you cut a meadow?’). The cut material is dried by turning, rowing up and then stacking loose or baled. Farmers rarely carry a moisture meter to test moisture content, instead they use their senses. It’s like laundry: When light and dry it is good to store. Or toss it with a rake, if it ‘hisses’ it is dry. During the winter, in the UK, animals can either be kept outdoors on pasture or aftermath (after mowing) grazing. Keeping livestock outdoors is dependent on the ground and weather conditions. Usually the group size is reduced to prevent damage to the field and soil structure via trampling. Alternatively, livestock can be housed indoors and fed hay and other rations. In Romania they speak of providing a cart full of hay for each leg of the horse. In Sinca Noua, Silviu feeds approximately 20 bales of hay to his flock of 70 sheep, which equates to roughly quarter of a bale of hay per day per sheep. Last year he began feeding hay in January. He doesn’t feed any hay until it snows. When the snow is coming he brings his cows indoors. If it is a ’small’ snow he leaves the sheep out on the fields; it is good for them to keep walking around. When the ‘big’ snow arrives he brings the sheep home and feeds them hay. Before the ewes start lambing he feeds them rolled corn.

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Cheese and lamb do not make a big profit to the farmer, but for farmers like Silviu they can combine farming with summer tourism work to bring in additional income.

“I like to have a good job, with enough money. I will always like to have some animals; I love animals. I want to continue the traditions, we don’t keep these practices because we need to, it is what we like to do! Others have given up. I feel better than them, I work hard for hay and everything but I am healthier than my relatives in Bucharest”.

Climate change is altering the yearly cycle of events. Projects such as The Remarkable Trees of Romania are helping to address this by reviving the practice of making ‘tree hay’ which is critical in a drought year. Whips of woody species such as willow, oak and hornbeam are cut, dried in the shade (to prevent the leaves falling off) then stored under cover. The whips are eagerly eaten by livestock in the winter and the remaining stems can be used as kindling for fire lighting. Trees are able to tap into nutrients that grasses and herbs cannot reach so tree hay is worth making every year. That way, farmers keep the skill alive. In 1601, Romania was created out of the three previous areas: Transylvania, Walachia and Moldavia. It has seen repeated invasions and the country’s boundary has changed within living memory. The population has had to find their way through four major land reforms in the past 150 years. Alongside this, major social and economic upheavals have altered the country’s ethnic and cultural makeup, land-property rights and common resources (Hartel et al 2014). Tensions exist between different cultural groups identifying as Romanian, Hungarian, Saxon and Roma. This was exhibited to me as differing points of view rather than conflict. The characteristic shared between the groups is a resilient outlook on life and reliance on the land. This was last experienced in Britain during World War Two rationing, which continued until 1954. The ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign encouraged home food production and foraging in the countryside for nuts and fruits. Ironically, during the period that people were spending more time on the land, we in Great Britain lost a large proportion of our biodiverse grassland habitats through the ‘plowing up’ campaign. “At the outbreak of war the target set for the first season’s plowing was an extra two million acres in the United Kingdom (1 ½ million in England and Wales), or one tenth of the area under pasture in June 1939. The first call to farmers was, therefore, that they should plow-up about one tenth of their permanent pasture.” Hammond, Food and Agriculture in Britain, 1939-45; Aspects of Wartime Control, Issue 7. 1954. The impacts of the scale of habitat loss are reflected in Plantlife’s England Farmland Report from 2013. It describes the importance of wildflowers for our farmland environment, critically assesses the role of agriculture policy in protecting the remnants of farmland plant diversity and sets out a recovery plan for the restoration of our farmland flora. With 70% of the UK’s land managed by the business of agriculture, which receives £2bn per annum, agri-environment schemes are vital for rebuilding our wildlife rich meadows and grasslands.

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Scything hay with Katalin. The bundle of hay under my left armpit marks me out as a beginner. It helps the body learn the ergonomic technique. His little green hat is the traditional headwear.

2. Champions: inspiring individuals While policies and schemes can achieve change on a grand scale, individuals are the role models who will bring other people on board. If you want to learn about something that you love or care about, it is inspiring to spend time with a person who is a champion for that way of life. They show what is possible. They are inspiring people, living their values with their knowledge and skill. They are more tangible, real and sustained than a 5-10 year project. These ‘champions’ are mentors for those who want to learn. They can also help those who are lost or stuck, speaking of universal needs and recognising gaps that need filling. Their broad and deep understanding enables funders to get more ‘bang for their buck’. For instance, a sustainable farmer is not only gathering hay to feed their horse in the winter, they are preserving meadows rich in wildlife, which also collect and filter rain which feeds local springs for drinking water. This is why charities such as Fauna and Flora International (FFI) invest in Fundatia ADEPT who are leaders in their field and support the farmers on the ground.

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My Fellowship began in Viscri. Accommodation was with Aunty Gerda and her husband Nico. The Saxon village has a classic layout: smallholdings line either side of the road and a wide verge featuring geese, chickens and tethered horses runs between the road and the houses. The smallholdings are characterised by the living quarters facing out onto the road, a central courtyard bordered by vegetable gardens, animal quarters and a hay barn and stables. Often there is an orchard to the rear. Staying with a family is the best way to learn about local life, as it comes and goes through the courtyard. It was magical, like living in a Beatrix Potter tale. There was a cobbled courtyard, honking geese, a turkey who kept wandering off and an over amorous cock who ended up in the pot. My son fell in love with Peterlei the cat, who really didn’t mind which way he was picked up and hugged.

L-R The view across the road. Gerda’s Geese in the central courtyard. Evening meal made with local produce, the food and drink was delicious, especially the naturally carbonated spring water.

The rich detail of rural life opens up opportunities to discuss traditions. I was interested in why some practices continued while others had changed or been given up. For instance, Nico’s tiny tractor was hard at work hauling heavily laden trailers of hay bales. While they had embraced mechanisation to compensate for the reduction in farm workers (19% reduction between 2002 and 2010, Eurostat) they also made ‘tradiţional’ hay. Hay made the traditional way is less beaten up and retains a higher nutritional value, holding on to the leaf and flower. This hay is stored loose, usually in the upper floor of the barn, and fed to poorly livestock to speed recovery or keep high value animals, such as horses, in peak condition.

L-R Tools of the trade: scythes and two pronged pitchfork. Cutting the verge between the road and hay meadow, 3 hrs work for 1 level cart load. Loose hay dripping from the upper floor of the barn.

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Ten years ago in Romania it was common to see teams of 10-25 people scything together. Outside of hay camp I only saw one team of five. However, the tradition of scything, turning hay with a rake, pitchforking it onto a cart and storing in the hay loft is kept alive in places machinery can’t reach, such as road verges, steep mountainsides and smaller patches of land. Farmers speak of the pleasure of scything and keeping the memory alive. I saw someone scything on almost every day of my four week trip. According to Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ the entire physical, emotional, social and intellectual qualities of people impact on their learning and growth. Maslow used his psychological model to look at what motivates people. This model comes to mind when I think of the people I met in Romania. The small scale farmers had met their basic needs of food, water and shelter. Their local community was structured to support their psychological needs of belonging and accomplishment. This supportive background gave them the freedom to explore how to fulfil their lives in creative ways, such as setting up a Hay Festival.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1970),

taken from simplypsychology1.

This model explains how people are motivated to take action to meet their basic needs, then their psychological needs. Once these are met, ‘higher’ needs emerge. More recent research has identified that the ordering of the needs is not always followed, but all aspects of the model are motivational.

Scything has seen a resurgence in the UK. Imports of Austrian scythes have been one of the main driving forces. The Austrian scythes are lighter and more efficient that traditional English scythes which means that beginners can be taught most of what they need to know in a one day course. Austrian scythes and their usefulness for managing smaller meadows and public green spaces has been promoted by BBC gardeners Bunny Guinness and Monty Don. The BBC television drama ‘Poldark’ sexed up scything, with a topless Aiden Turner angrily hacking away in his neglected meadow (you can tell it’s neglected due to the height of the vegetation and presence of hogweed). The Scythe Association of Britain and Ireland (SABI) pointed out that he’d have cut far more if he improved his technique. All of these factors have generated a surge in interest and recognition for the benefits of scything, doubling the numbers of people attending UK training.

1 McLeod, S. A. (2016). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

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Table 1. Scything Benefits Personal Practical Ecological

One day course to learn technique and maintenance.

Initial investment of £140 for scythe, stone and peening jig.

Runs on muscle rather than petrol.

Rhythmic body movement. Scythers speak of sense of understanding and calm.

Scythe and sharpening stone easily carried. No need for fuel or bulky PPE or servicing costs.

Gradual removal of vegetation with least disturbance.

Can either work alone or as part of a team. For safety can use a buddy for one working.

Can work close to others, including footpath users and roadsides. Stimming requires a 15m exclusion zone.

Scyther works in harmony with the land and can easily stop and avoid a wasp nest, ant hill etc.

Empowerment to manage land by hand.

Scythe can be carried to difficult to access areas.

Sustainable, effective way to cut hard to reach areas.

I had been taught to scythe by Chris Riley. HIWWT staff and volunteers look after their own scythes (“you no more lend a person your scythe than lend them your false teeth”). They can now undertake most of the path cutting and weed control on a six hectare water meadow nature reserve south of Winchester. I have rarely had a person approach me when I am strimming. This is not surprising as it is noisy and hazardous. In contrast, passers-by often stop to talk to us and ask questions when we are scything. This is really important. The key to looking after habitats is to ensure they are properly managed. Being able to speak to people while we are working is the perfect time to explain good management.

L-R Author ‘rowing up’ by hand with Geogiana. A ‘kleyits’ [haystack] in Sinca Noua. A second cut of hay (finer growth than the first cut) in Sinca Noua that has been heaped up to keep the rain out ahead of a storm. The second cut is highly prized as it is more nutritious than the first.

The third week of my fellowship was at the International Hay Making Camp in Ghimeș, hosted by the Pogány-havas Association. The week long hay camp was led by Attila Sarig, whose teaching and way of life inspired us all. The hay camp brings together different nationalities to help bring in the harvest of hay on the mountain meadows. In return for offering their labour and paying for accommodation, participants are taught how to make hay by hand. Day trips to local milk collection facilities, a cheese making factory and time to enjoy the abundant wildlife leave a lasting impression of the importance of hay meadows. This is eco-tourism that offers direct benefits, with visitors helping to manage the meadows by bringing in the hay and cutting back the trees and bushes that would otherwise

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smother the meadows. Attila has four cows and needs 64 haystacks to keep them fed through the winter. Attila is in the process of building a ‘life school’ where participants will learn how to grow and process vegetables, how to keep animals on a farm and how to make cheese. In the Áldomáspataka valley people produce 80-85% of their own food to sustain themselves. In the past ten years a big percentage of young people have moved away to Spain, Italy, the UK and Romanian cities. They want to earn money rather than inherit the ancestral skills to live off the land. Attila hopes that he can be a good example for young people to continue living in the area. He recognises the good quality of life he has and wants to dissuade people from abandoning the land. While low levels of tourism provide additional income via the provision of guestrooms and farm meals, Attila is wary of too many tourists. They could destroy the peace of the valley. Instead, he considers that it is better to supply milk, cheese and meat to the city where people cannot produce village products. It is critical that the communities are considering how cause and effect will change their lives. Rural decision making is examined in Joern Fisher’s booklet, ‘The Future of People and Nature in Southern Transylvania’. The scenario planning looks at how Transylvania will change in the next 30 years. It asks, “What might the future hold for Southern Transylvania, and what might be our role in it?” In the UK, the Brexit vote, followed by the United States election of Donald Trump have left me thinking that that conservationists and land managers should be considering disaffected people. There is an air of entitlement and elitism in the land owning community and without necessarily meaning to, this excludes large parts of the population who depend on the countryside for food and ecosystem services.

Hay Camp, Attila overseeing our first hours of scything as a team.

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The Green Party in the Scottish Parliament and writers such as Lesley Riddoch in her book ‘Blossom’ are championing this message. The recent birth of ‘A Focus On Nature’ is informing wider nature conservation debates by offering a young and fresh perspective on environmental issues. It is initiatives like this that are needed to reach out to overlooked audiences and enable them to be part of land management.

Walking our scythes and hay rakes up to 1000m mountain hay meadows. The all-important food: We had a basic breakfast of bread, jam and coffee at dawn, scythed for a couple of hours then had a picnic breakfast, which starts with a shot of Pálinka (fruit brandy), followed by bread, butter, eggs, cheese, salami sausage, tomatoes and cucumber, always spread on a tablecloth!

Cutting the hay: the scythe clears a 5ft width and piles the hay to the left hand side in a windrow. You work your way downhill then carry your scythe over your shoulder to reach the top again. Christopher and Peter in conversation as they sharpen their blades with a whetstone. The red pouch on Christopher’s belt holds the stone in a small amount of water when not in use.

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Raking the hay downhill, it is important to collect all the available vegetation as this will be the winter feed for livestock. The hay is then made into stacks on top of cut branches. The hay is compacted by a person standing on top of it as each pitchforkful is added. A hayrake is used to rake down at the sides so that it forms a thatch that will shed rainwater.

The haystack is pulled to the hay barn by hired horsepower. The stack is pitchforked into the barn by hand. It is brought down to the village in the winter by horse and sleigh. Attila will need 68 haystacks to feed his 4 cows through the winter.

The meadow was ringing with the sound of grasshoppers, crickets and bees. Making hay by hand is the least lethal option for meadow wildlife compared to mechanised techniques.

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Hay meadows on the mountainside near Ghimeș. Each strip in the distance is in different ownership and therefore cut at slightly different times, shading the landscape in varying hues of green. Lucerne and other crops are grown in the valley bottom. In the foreground you can see a newly planted orchard and vegetable garden.

3. Scale Large landscapes impress our emotions. They have the ability to blur the lines between us and the land. Instead of feeling that the environment is something that surrounds us, we can feel a sense of interconnectedness with nature. This helps us respect the planet and its processes and strengthen our relationship with wildlife. Large habitat areas are more resilient to change, which is better for safeguarding wildlife species. This is particularly pertinent as climate change affects weather patterns, with knock on impacts on ecology and human populations. When considering funding for nature conservation and local people it is important to recognise that projects done on a larger scale can make better economic returns and support a whole community.

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Viscri – beehive lorry and patchwork of meadows. Viscri is a Saxon village, 40km from Sighișoara, accessed on a 7km, bumpy, rutted road, deliberately unrepaired to discourage damaging levels of tourism. The state of the road forces drivers to slow down and take in the scenery. Half way along the road was this beehive lorry. The number of hives and frequency of the lorries indicates the high availability of nectar from wildflowers.

Farm and farm worker statistics Romania is the second largest country in Europe (Poland is the largest). It has 3.8million agricultural holdings, by far the largest in the EU. In the mountain areas these are usually 3ha in size. The November 2012 Agricultural Census Farm Structure Survey analysed data from 2010. It identified that the Utilised Agricultural area (UAA) is very large compared to other member states, covering 13.3 million hectares, some 56% of the Romanian territory. As befits a country with many farms, there are many agricultural workers; approximately 7.1 million people working on Romanian farms in 2010. With more than a third of Romanian people working on Romanian farms most people have a maximum of one degree of separation from farming. If they aren’t a farmer themselves, then either someone in their family or friendship group is involved in farming. It is thought that this is one of the reasons people value the quality of home-made food; they understand the effort of its production. The number of people regularly working on farms has decreased by 19% between 2002 and 2010; this equates to about 1.7 million people who are no longer working on farms. While overgrazing and inappropriate management are a concern, the general consensus is that abandonment is the greater risk. If workers are not available work cannot continue, in the longer term skills and local knowledge are at risk of being lost. The fragmentation of the structure of the Romanian farms partially derives from the land restitution which took place during the 1990s. This was a slow process and lasted until 2005, changing the structure of Romanian agricultural land with the proportion of privately owned farmland increasing from about 12% in 1989 to 96% in 2002. In particular, the privatisation process led to the parcelling of land into small pieces on the one hand, and the establishment of large commercial enterprises on the other hand (Banski, 2008). The Agricultural Census of Romania, EuroStat.

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In most towns and villages livestock can be grazed on common land, administered by local councils. In 2010, it covered about 1.5 million hectares.

Sinca Noua In Sinca Noua I visited Christoph Promberger and Barbara Promberger-Fuerpass at Equus Sylvania. Their horse riding holiday business provides opportunities for tourists to experience the local countryside on horseback. Christoph is a ‘large carnivore biologist’. Having witnessed the disturbing clear cutting of virgin forests as a result of land restitution, they helped set up an ambitious project to protect local forests and grasslands, called ‘Carpathia, European Wilderness Reserve’. Large areas of forest and alpine meadows have been purchased for the creation of a wilderness reserve to protect nature in perpetuity. To date they have saved over 17,000Ha for full protection. The goal is to ultimately return their landholdings to the public domain for permanent protection in the form of a National Park. Their farm at Cobor is seeking to be an example of sustainable tourism, livery stables and livestock farming.

Conflicts between farming communities and National Parks are explored in Dekker et al.’s 2004 paper “Natural resources of piatra craiului for livelihood improvement of local communities”. Improving communication between the national park authorities and stakeholders is identified as the key need. Tourism is seen as the way forward to retain young people in Măgura and provide a focus for longer term planning beyond the shorter term sense of survival. In the UK, a shortage of people with traditional skills has led to national park authorities setting up subsidised training courses and apprentice training schemes to revive skills such as dry-stone walling, hedgelaying and bridge construction. One of the aims of these projects has been to retain these trainees in the local area. This is a good way to link funding for traditional landscapes and people to look after them. Furthermore, it builds links between local people and the park authorities, improving communication and project effectiveness. Training rangers, rights of way staff and local communities in scything has a good track record of improving path maintenance, hay meadow management and capacity to cut hay. The opportunity to cut smaller hay meadow areas was highlighted in the Bowland Hay Time Project.

Milk collection points 1 cow =approx. 1ha of wildflower rich pasture and meadow. Therefore a village of 100 cows =100ha wildflower rich pasture and meadow. If you can keep a village farming, you can maintain the grassland habitats. The setting up of milk collection points has enabled families with one or two cows to take their milk to the village collection point (a chilled tank) where it is measured by volume and checked for quality. A log is kept and people are paid by the volume they have deposited. This has provided an economic incentive to carry on milking, which may have been given up if people had to market their own milk production. Shepherds who tend to the larger sheep flocks have 300 sheep in their care and have to milk them twice a day. Each time it takes three hours for two people to milk and one to herd the sheep into the milking shed. The milk is carried back to the

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shepherd’s camp where it is made into salty feta type of cheese which is sold locally. It is a demanding job. To improve recruitment of shepherds, Fundatia ADEPT have provided funding for electric fencing, solar panels and solar thermal hot water to improve living conditions on the hillside. Many head shepherds report difficulty in recruiting shepherds as other work paying the same money is available with easier living conditions. Many things are harder on the hillside: at present it is a two hour round trip by horse and cart to collect water in small churns. More information on the shepherding way of life can be found on the webpages of The European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP). EFNCP is a Europe-wide network which raises awareness of the importance of low-intensity livestock farming.

The shepherds near Viscri milking the sheep on the high pasture. The shepherds’ camp: the blue panelled room is where they make the cheese.

4. Reverberation Definition: 1. A prolongation of sound; a resonance. 2. Continuing effect with repercussions. Traditional skills are often recognised for their holistic benefits. Meadow skills are good for all round health, attuning the body to the task and focusing the mind. It is by ‘doing’ that the skills are learned. It is by repeatedly ‘doing’ that the actions connect themselves to memories. It is by ‘doing’ we appreciate the effects of our actions. Using traditional techniques can extend the amount of time it takes to complete a task such as hay making. It often requires multiple people working together at the same thing or different stages of production. This brings psychological and sociological benefits through sharing knowledge, respecting other people and building a support network. It builds an important sense of ‘belonging’, (Baumeister and Leary, 1995).

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In Romania there are daily hands-on opportunities to connect with the land. A smallholder chops wood, feeds the wood into the boiler for hot water, harvests and cooks good food, milks the cow, collects eggs from the hens and collects water from the well. All of these activities mean that they have direct contact with the land. Few people do these activities alone. In the case of cattle, the cow is milked in the morning, sent out of the gate to join a shepherded herd and then brought back from pasture at dusk to be milked again. The milk is carried, in a bucket or churn, up to the milk collection point in the village, measured and recorded and payment is received each month. In this one activity there are at least three people: the cow owner who milks the animal, the shepherd who takes the animals to pasture and the milk collection assistant. In addition there are the neighbours who are doing the same thing, so this one simple activity easily connects ten people together at once. I could see the reverberation of nature in their life and their actions echoing on through the land. The researchers at Ecosystem Services Laboratory of Sapientia University have been working with local Transylvanian communities to understand the dynamics and sustainability challenges of traditional rural social-ecological systems in transition2. The rural populations have incredible knowledge to share, but their lives are changing fast. Community activities run by the researchers highlight and celebrate the knowledge that people have, unlocking heritage values that people are at risk of losing. If people recognise what they know, they can take collective action to shape their lives. People living in a village may take its qualities for granted, but the researchers can highlight that the local meadows and ancient forests are unique and special. The habitats may be protected under European law, but without local appreciation they are at risk of abandonment or damage. Encouraging the meetings to record what they use from those habitats highlights how valuable they are to people, for example:

2 https://ecosystemservice.wordpress.com/awareness/

Scything and the art of happiness.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyiis is a psychologist who researches human motivation and happiness. His studies reveal that happiness is not about how much more personal wealth you generate, it is about doing things that are meaningful and worthwhile. It is said to take 10,000hrs of practice to achieve mastery in a skill. Csikszentmihalyiis describes a state of mind when a person is doing something really well, with a lot of concentration. He refers to the spontaneous ‘flow’, of losing the self completely in an activity. In Zen Buddhism a similar state of truly knowing oneself is referred to as ‘satori’.

Flow, and the joy it brings, is almost always mentioned by people who scythe!

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hay

fruit for jam

fruit for making brandy

medicinal plants

tree hay

firewood and charcoal production

timber for building materials

meat and wool from livestock

milk, butter and cheese

nectar for beekeeping and honey production

memories of childhood they want to pass on

butterflies of many colours

wildflowers that tourists like to see

During my Fellowship, it was heart-warming to see all ages involved in activities: an elderly lady driving the tractor while younger men pitchforked hay into the trailer, a young boy at his father’s side on a horse drawn cart. The elderly are very friendly and helpful. In Viscri, several older people would sit on the road side benches, knitting and talking with those passing by. On our way to hay camp we got lost on a single track road. A wonderful old lady called over her young granddaughters and without any knowledge of one another’s language we managed to track down our hosts via numerous telephone calls. There is a clear gender divide, with women doing the child rearing, cooking, cleaning and shopping. Predominantly men do the farm work, trade and transport, with women joining in as part of the work force. My mother and I wondered when the women ever got a rest? I did not see a single woman driving a hose and cart, but I did see plenty of boys at the reins. I asked Attila whether women could take up farming. He said there had been a ‘big war about this’ in his grandmothers time. I was excited, thinking of my skirt-defying Granny doing things her own way, but Attila’s grandmother had enforced the family to follow the classical division of labour. To break the tradition was to risk breaking the whole way of life. Are women happy about this? Tibor Hartel explained that there is little option for men and women, even when they are fighting with one another, “they are an economic unit, they cannot do the work without the other half”. This is not just women and men being locked into roles they do not want, but the rural communities are losing young people who want to avoid a stereotyped lifestyle. To my mind, this risks 50% of the population being excluded from taking up farming. In a country where rural populations of young people are plummeting, everyone should be invited into the world of farming, not just the men. For this to happen childcare is paramount. During the summer months I will work a week of 13 hour days while we make hay. It takes childcare support from family and friends to allow me to work these long hours. My long hours making hay are a source of joy to me as I have adequate support systems in place to make the choice.

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Unconscious Incompetence blissful ignorance

Conscious Incompetence aware of not knowing skill

Conscious Competence able to practice skill

Unconscious Competence effortless ease, skilled

“Mental health is one of the most serious and complex issues that we face in Britain today and it is great that we now have clearer scientific evidence that nature is so beneficial for our minds and our sense of self.” Rory Stewart at the publication of Natural England’s ‘Review of nature-based interventions for mental health care’, February 2016. I know my meadows intimately; I have walked over them checking livestock for eight years. My colleague Robin and I know how far you can drive the tractor down the field before it becomes too wet to go any further. We both know where the patch of chalk will catch the blades of the topper when we’re cutting hard rush. There’s a corner between ditches where you can tag new-born calves before the mum can get round to shoo you off. The cattle have a preference for which fields they will eat first. There are the sections of river where the trout spawn and river stretches where the density of water voles is highest. As a result of this I can point out a kingfisher territory to a flood consultant who wants to build a wall. I can say which fields will need more weed control if it’s a dry year, where to put the cows if they lose condition when their calves get older and take a lot of milk. This knowledge grows with time and becomes more detailed with learning. Although I can go on courses, my time in Romania revealed a wealth of practices that are no longer the norm in the UK. Witnessing hay making in Romania as part of the fabric of rural life exposed me to what I never realised I could know. This ‘conscious incompetence’ is the first step on the ‘staircase of learning’. Hay making with communities in the Itchen valley will form a key part of disseminating my findings. Understanding the lack of awareness about hay making will be the first part of this journey.

Conscious competence Traditional skills are, in general, in tune with nature, harder physical work for the person, repetitive and take longer. In order to get the job done, work needs to be done in a team. To make best use of the team’s time the work needs to be done as efficiently as possible. This team work is a chance to get advice on technique, find out historical information and become aware of one’s level of understanding. Good leaders and trainers will find the “staircase of learning” a helpful tool for helping people to practice techniques correctly to learn a skill.

Diagram 1. The ‘Staircase of Learning’, improving competence over time.

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Mihai Sarig, Attila’s father, teaching us how to make a traditional hay rake. Our contribution was to make the tines (teeth). He speaks Hungarian, we didn’t. His expressions and glorious outbursts of laughter indicated whether we had made a good tine. Elizabeth could remember a bit of Hungarian and translated what she could recall. Each of us making a tine was the perfect way to start the process of making a rake. A tine that was too thin would fall out, if it was too wide it would split the head. Whittling the wood began our understanding of the ash wood grain and how to use our knives on it. Working together we were able to share knowledge and improve our skills. We were very proud of the group rake, which was stamped with all our different nationalities.

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Clean, sparkling water from the well at Saschiz.

5. Connection and recognition Traditions, customs and festivals grew up recognise the importance of practices and to celebrate key events such as the beginning of the growing season and harvest time. The gatherings provide the opportunity for conversations, the building of relationships and the establishment of support networks. By working together side by side, or towards shared goals, individuals find their power and build the strength of their community. In the Pogány-Havas area of eastern Transylvania local people can identify 160 different species of plant. There is a wonderful DVD showcasing the yearly cycle of farming and way of life. The rural population spend about 210 days a year in nature so it is not surprising they have got to know the plants around them and their uses. They collect stems of marjoram, yarrow and St John’s wort to make tea, gathering huge bunches from the hay meadows before they are cut for hay. These bunches will last them through the year until they flower and can be gathered again. Families spend five days up in the high altitude hay meadows bringing in their crop of hay. One of my highlights was hearing the whooping call one farmer would make to another across the mountainside, often in the early morning, or late afternoon, to

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share the joy of hay making with a fellow group working out of talking distance, but near enough to appreciate the call and whoop back. At night, twenty years ago, the whole mountainside would have been pinpricked with campfires by multiple families out making hay. At hay camp we were the only ones staying up on the mountainside, sleeping in the haybarns, ready to start scything at daybreak, with dew on the grass, which makes cutting easier. After breakfast, when the dew had burned off, we could start turning hay. If it was a hot day the hay would have dried out after lunch, and could be raked down and stacked into stacks ready to take back to the barn. The sense of unity, combined effort and achievement made the work intensely satisfying.

We were treated to an evening of Csángó music and dancing by younger people from the village. Proud families came to watch and enjoy the performance. The traditional sheepskin waistcoats have made a comeback since a local school insisted they were worn at the prom. Small instances like this can be the impetus to safeguard a tradition that keeps a local craftsman in business and supports a local product of farming, providing a premium for the product. All these threads of production, craft, tradition and practice bind together the fabric of a community, safeguarding each part. As an outsider, you find one thread and follow it, learning all the different parts it connects to.

National and International reports are repeatedly referring to the state of the land and local use. This includes the 2016 ‘State of the World’s Forests’ (SOFO) report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Eva Müller, Director of the agency’s Forestry Policy and Resources Division noted the need for better cross-sectoral coordination of policies on agriculture, forestry, food and land use, as well as effective legal frameworks and stronger involvement of local communities. “Governments should provide local communities not only with secure land tenure but also with secure forest tenure rights. A farmer knows best how to manage his or her own resources but often lacks legal instruments to do so”.

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The power to act as an individual and as part a community is what will shape a way of life. Secure land tenure is essential to unlock the energy and commitment from people to be guardians of the land and sustain customs during their lifetime.

CONCLUSION The traditional way of life in Transylvania is transient. It is a moment in time, born of history and ingenuity. The plethora of skills, knowledge and practice are in danger of being lost before we realise what is at risk of disappearing. The threats to meadow biodiversity are those of modernisation, intensification and abandonment. The value of wildlife, clean water, good soil, tasty affordable food, accessible resources, strong communities and welcoming hosts are something we all yearn for. Too easily we can sell out on these for the offer of money, without appreciating what will be lost. In order to protect these resources we require, at the root, community understanding and cohesive decision making. From councils and government we require investment to sustain our natural capital for the future. My Fellowship to Transylvania developed my knowledge of hay meadows by opening my eyes to what once existed in the UK. The experience of seeing mile upon mile of wildlife rich meadows manged by small scale farmers showed me how habitats function ecologically and economically. The devastating loss and fragmentation of UK meadows has the potential to inspire action to restore and reconnect our precious, colourful, historic meadows for the benefit of wildlife and people. Traditional hay meadow skills such as scything and building of hayricks require local communities to work together to bring in the harvest. This not only helps manage the meadow, it also trains volunteers in management techniques and provides a space to practice doing them. By doing the work, people get to know the land, each other and build a stronger community. The values of meadows are understood by Romanian people, but they are easily forgotten. Workshops, celebrations and reminders are necessary to help communities to safeguard their natural resources and decide on their way of life. I would like to continue to investigate how people value their local meadows. Does involving people with the management increase their connection to the land and help them look after it? Could ‘impact’ research methods evaluate this? This will be the next stage of my research. Nature conservation is a collaborative effort that brings many sectors into play. A key aspect of disseminating my report findings will be learning what I’ve missed out and connecting to projects in the UK and abroad.

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Apti and Lucian Holban measure a 4m+ wood pasture oak for the Remarkable Trees of Romania project. This is the first time these older trees have been mapped to help protect them from illegal felling on the wood pasture. The largest trees have a circumference of more than 7 metres. Mr Holban volunteers to help protect the wood pasture. He used to be a ‘Alpinist’, mountain runner. It was exhausting chasing him over the hillside with his measuring tape!

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IMPLEMENTATION AND DISSEMINATION PLAN Transylvania is recognised as one of the last repositories of management methods which shaped European habitats. This has huge relevance in restoring UK habitats and beyond. My fellowship represents part of a broad move to conserve Romanian habitats and learn from the expertise of local people. The knowledge and skills I learned in Romania will be shared in the UK in the following ways in 2017-2018.

Local communities Deliver four talks, four guided walks and two courses in Winchester. Refer to meadow management in Romania and explain how human practices have changed the local landscape through time.

Itchen valley Share my traditional meadow skills and knowledge with 90 volunteers who help manage meadows and wetlands via work parties, wildlife surveys and wardening.

Celebrate Involve 100 local volunteers from the Itchen Valley and South Downs in the management their meadows to benefit wildlife via monthly work parties and community hay making days.

Investigate How do people value their local meadows? Does involving people with the management increase their connection to the land and help them look after it? Trial research methods to evaluate this.

Trickle feed Face to face conversations with nature reserve visitors and contacts. Twitter posts and hashtags. Build up contacts and connections with and between organisations. Maintain relationships that I made in Romania.

Regionally and nationally Liaise with staff at the South Downs National Park, Floodplains Meadow Partnership, the Environment Agency and the Wildlife Trusts.

Courses and conferences Reach local authority rangers, water company staff, contractors and statutory agencies via the courses I teach and conferences I attend as part of CPD.

Training Coordinate Austrian scythe training to take place annually in Winchester. Support the work of the Scythe Association of Britain and Ireland (SABI)

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REFERENCES

Akeroyd, John. The Historic Countryside of the Saxon Villages of Southern Transylvania, Bucharest, 2006. Book. Banski, Jerzy. Agriculture of central Europe in the period of economic transformation, 2008. Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.49 Blacker, William. Along the Enchanted Way, John Murray (publishers) London, 2009. Book. Dekkers et al. Natural resources of piatra craiului for livelihood improvement of local communities, 2004. Fischer et al. The Future of People and Nature in Southern Transylvania, 2015. Book Mallow, Lucy. Transylvania, The Bradt Travel Guide, Chalfont St Peter: Bradt, 2013. Book. Natural England. A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care, 2016. Suttie, J. M. Hay and Straw Conservation - For Small-Scale Farming and Pastoral Conditions, FAO Plant Production and Protection Series No. 29, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2000. Meadow Management in the UK: Natural England, Technical Information Note TIN088: Illustrated guide to managing neutral pasture for wildlife, First edition 6 May 2011 www.naturalengland.org.uk Gwent Wildlife Trust, neutral grassland land management factsheet: http://www.gwentwildlife.org/sites/default/files/no.1_habitat_management_toolkit_-_neutral_grassland_hay_meadows_final.pdf Floodplain Meadows Partnership, When do you cut a meadow? http://www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk/sites/www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk/files/files/Cutting%20Article.pdf

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Floodplain Meadows Partnership, Make hay when the sun shines (but what if the sun don’t shine?) http://www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk/sites/www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk/files/files/What%20to%20do%20in%20a%20wet%20summer.pdf Restoring species rich grassland in the UK: Plantlife, Rehabilitation of existing priority lowland grassland: Timescales to achieve favourable condition, 2016. http://www.magnificentmeadows.org.uk/assets/pdfs/Lowland_grassland_timescales_for_recovery_advisory_note_FINAL-Design.pdf The Wildlife Trusts, Save our vanishing Grasslands, 2014.http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/save_our_vanishing_grasslands_final.pdf The Grasslands Trust, Nature’s Tapestry: The story of England’s grasslands and why not all grass is green, 2011. http://www.magnificentmeadows.org.uk/assets/pdfs/Natures_Tapestry.pdf VIDEOS Mountain Hay Meadows. Hotspots of Biodiversity and Traditional Culture. Ágota Juhász & László Demeter, 2012. Beautifully filmed ‘year in the life’ of hay meadow farming families and wildlife in the Pogány-Havas area. WEBSITES https://ecosystemservice.wordpress.com/ Ecosystem Services Laboratory of Sapientia University www.efncp.org European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism www.fundatia-adept.org Fundatia ADEPT www.mountainhaymeadows.eu http://poganyhavas.hu/ Pogány-Havas Association www.treasuresoftransylvania.org Barbara Knowles Fund

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Kali, Charlie and Archie watch the sun set on our last night at hay camp.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill.