We’re delighted to announce that after two years of preparation, traditional grazing has finally returned to Molpír Hill. The revival of this prehistoric hillfort site is the result of collaboration between local farmer Mr. Matiašovič and the municipality of Smolenice, and is being carried out as part of the LIFE Endemic PANALP project. Since last week, the first nine goats have been helping to remove invasive shrubs, and they will soon be joined by heifers to support the upkeep of valuable grassland habitats. These grasslands provide a home to species such as the Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo) and the purple orchid (Orchis purpurea), and we hope that grazing will gradually encourage the return of even more rare species. Grazing also reduces the municipality’s maintenance costs and offers pasture space for the farmer’s animals, making it a win-win for all parties involved.
For now, the animals are grazing on a smaller parcel near a newly built shelter, which was designed to respect the site’s historical significance. Later in the season, we plan to extend grazing to the rest of the hillfort area. The tourist and educational trail remains fully open to visitors. We kindly ask that you do not feed the animals, there’s plenty of natural food available for them in the pasture.
Finally, we’d like to thank everyone who helped us, the farmer and the municipality with the return of grazing: volunteers from Toyota and Dell, and the youth participants from last year’s international camp organized by the organization Strom života (The Tree of Life).
