My name is Erik Borgström and I am just about to start my work as a project assistant in SandLife. SandLife is a nature conservation project with Lund University and the CABs of Skåne, Halland and Kalmar as project partners, aiming at preserving and restoring sand steppe and other sandy biotopes in southern Sweden. These biotopes declined drastically around 100-200 years ago when formerly cultivated sand-rich soils were abandoned, and restoration actions include clearing of Japanese Rose, creating areas of exposed sand and conservation burning. My task will be to help out with the coordination, compilation and evaluation of the monitoring of target species including vascular plants, hymenopterans, butterflies, birds and beetles.
During the summer I will take part in some of the monitoring of vascular plants myself and the rest of the year you will most likely found me stuck with a lot of field data from the last few years…which hopefully will lead to the conclusion that given carefully planned and evidence-based nature conservation actions there is still some hope (and maybe even a brighter future) for our beloved Dianthus arenarius (sandnejlika) and other sand-loving species!
