Background In the forest and "fjeld" areas of northern Scandinavia, the use of small widely-dispersed natural hay meadows and pastures has been the foundation for livestock agriculture for centuries. Traditionally, every summer livestock were moved over long distances from the main farm in the forested areas to summer pastures in the uplands or mountain areas. In the region around Lake Storsjön in Jämtland County, which is characterised by limestone bedrock and calcareous soils, farming settlements can be traced back to 400-600 AD, which is unique for such northern latitudes. The meadows and pastures linked to these traditional land use practices are characterised by a particularly rich flora, and include such endemics as the black vanilla orchid (Gymnadenia nigra). However, with the changes to agricultural practices, many of the small and remote farms had to close down. In Jämtland County, this had a dramatic impact on the meadows, which decreased by 95 % from 40,000 ha in 1927 to a mere 2,000 ha in 1993. Objectives The project beneficiary aimed to secure the long-term conservation of these biologically rich meadows through a concerted programme of activities covering 31 Natura 2000 sites. The objectives focussed on securing a favourable conservation status for the meadow habitats, and their plant and animal species on a total of 650 ha. Specifically, this involved: Increasing the area of completely open, tended natural pasture and hay meadow by approximately 245 hectares and thinning out approximately 290 hectares of forest pasture areas and tree-shrouded pastures within the pSCI areas. Some 70 hectares of grassland of the species-rich Nardus grassland type (*6230) and Nordic boreal alluvial meadows (6450) were also to be restored; Increasing the area of well-tended natural pasture and hay meadow within the SCI areas by 225 hectares; Obtaining sufficient expertise on forest pastures and associated species in order to be able to draw up management plans which promote the biological diversity in habitats 9070 and 9040; and Making the sites in question accessible to visitors, while at the same time ensuring the terrain is not damaged. Results The project succeeded in its the objectives to increase the area of well tended grasslands and forest pastures within 31 Natura 2000 sites, and LIFE support has helped to secure favourable conservation status for the plant and animal species in all of the project’s target habitats (9040, 9070 *, 6170, 6210, *6230, *6270, 6450, 6510 and 6520). A range of conservation work was carried out during the project including: preparing inventories of mowed and grazed meadows, as well as bird and insect fauna in grazed forest habitats; producing management plans; clearing and mowing of scrub and tree overgrowth; removing shrubs and trees; thinning wooded pastures; fencing areas; restoring meadows; undertaking infrastructure investments for mowing and grazing; establishing facilities for visitors; and producing information brochures and booklets. Around 100 land owners were involved in the project and their participation was considered a key success factor. Stakeholder involvement also created some challenges and many useful lessons were learnt during the project that will be applied to help ensure the long term sustainability of its benefits. The importance of appropriate project planning was noted as being particularly relevant, since the project sites were widely dispersed and the long winter limited accessibility to a short intense operational season between May and October. As part of the project the beneficiary developed innovative mini round bale technology that was designed for the conservation work in remote wet meadow areas. This technology has had been shown to offer good demonstration value and a similar machine has been purchased by at least one other County Administrative Board. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).