Students in Mazsalaca celebrate Natura 2000 Day with a BioBlitz

To celebrate Natura 2000 Day, students of 5th and 7th grade of Mazsalaca Secondary School took part in an educational and exciting nature exploration campaign “BioBlitz 2025” in the nature park “Salaca River Valley”. This initiative, organized by the Nature Conservation Agency’s LIFE-IP LatViaNature and LIFE IS SALACA projects, gave pupils the opportunity to learn about biodiversity, interact with nature experts and record 442 nature observations using an app.

On 21 May, Natura 2000 Day is celebrated in Latvia and throughout the European Union – a day dedicated to the conservation of natural diversity. This year marks 21 years since Latvia joined this important European network of protected areas.

To celebrate this day, students of 5th and 7th grade of Mazsalaca Secondary School took part in an exciting nature exploration campaign “BioBlitz 2025”, organized by the Nature Conservation Agency projects LIFE-IP LatViaNature and LIFE IS SALACA.

The action took place in the nature park “Salaca River Valley”, which is one of 333 Natura 2000 sites in Latvia. The site is particularly scenic and rich in natural values, with 92 protected species and 22 different habitat types – freshwater, forests, meadows, caves and outcrops.

“BioBlitz” is a world-renowned citizen science initiative that aims to identify and record as many species of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms as possible at a given time and place. Together with other European countries, the campaign is taking place in Latvia this week, 17-25 May, in several protected areas – including the Rāzna, Gauja and Slītere National Parks, Randu pļavas and Zilaiskalns.

In Mazsalaca, together with nature experts, students learned new knowledge about local plants and animals, tried out technologies to identify species and got a practical insight into the world of biology. The aim of this unusual “biology lesson” was to help pupils better understand how diverse and special our nature is and why it is important to protect it. In total, they recorded 442 observations and identified 141 different species using the ObsIdentify app. More information on the results of the campaign can be found here https://observation.org/bioblitz/17819/salacas-ieleja-n2000/#sg-12.

Many thanks to the students of Mazsalaca Secondary School for their active participation and interest in learning about nature!