Background Meadows and grasslands contain a broad diversity of plant species, which provide the conditions for a wealth of insect life. Grazed shore meadows provide habitats for many species of birds. During the past decades, the modernisation of agriculture has resulted in a drastic reduction in the acreage of natural hay meadows and grazing land as small land plots were abandoned or incorporated into large intensified agricultural units. Where small plots still exist, lack of management has resulted in overgrowth of the plots and caused many connected species of flora and fauna to become rare or even disappear. The county of Östergötland holds a considerable proportion of Sweden’s acreage of natural hay meadows and grazed pastures. Östergötland is also an important region for many species connected with old oaks. These old, often hollow, trees host a myriad of insects, lichen and moss species. For example, the hermit beetle (Osmoderma eremite), a priority species in the Habitats Directive, has its largest populations in Östergötland and occurs in no less than eight of the project sites. Objectives The ROSORIS project aimed to restore natural meadows and pastures on 41 Natura 2000 sites in Östergötland. It specifically sought to target natural meadows, wooded pastures and shore meadows typical for extensive agricultural landscapes. The project areas were to cover a total of 965 ha and include eight of the habitats in the Habitat Directive. The project foresaw a number of management and restoration actions to meet the habitats’ requirements. These were to include the clearing of overgrowth from meadow and wooded pasture, extensive grazing by horses or cattle and the restoration of natural hay meadows. To encourage wildlife, pollarding of old deciduous trees was to be resumed to benefit the many species of flora and fauna that need old trees for their survival. New oaks were to be planted to provide old trees in the future. The project also planned to establish pasture on shore meadows to encourage the rich birdlife in these areas. Results The ROSORIS project successfully restored the natural meadows and pastures on 41 project sites. All the sites have now either already achieved favourable conservation status or are expected to achieve it naturally as the flora and fauna develop with time. The project cleared overgrowth from 434.8 ha of meadow and wooded pasture and erected over 80 km of protective fencing to create enclosed pasture. To ensure ongoing and continuous management of pastures, grazing by horses and cattle was resumed or grazing conditions improved on 392 ha. The beneficiary constructed watering facilities for animals at 24 sites and built collecting pens at six sites. Natural hay meadows were restored on six ha and shore/littoral meadows over 252 ha. This was only 58% of the foreseen area, because some meadows were actually in better condition than expected and specific interventions were not required there. In the project areas Hallstad and Tinnerö, experts re-pollarded old trees, including 15 old lime trees (Tilia) and 2 ash trees (Fraxinus). A group of experts from the UK were invited to carry out some of the pollarding activities and discuss techniques and best practice. The differences in approach between British and Swedish experts - including whether to always cut back to a previous pollarding point - were interesting and thought-provoking. Around 160 local oaks of about 3m in height were planted strategically in three different areas. This aims, in the long-run to connect currently isolated areas of thick oak trees which are important and valuable, but also vulnerable. Much of the project area was successfully entered into Sweden’s agri-environmental support scheme. As of 2010, 30 sites, 73% of the project areas were covered by the system, which will support and ensure the continued traditional use of these sites. Money for the remaining eleven sites will come from the funds for management of valuable habitats. The final seminar of the project conducted a now published comparison of the agri-environmental schemes in Sweden, Denmark, Poland, England and Bayern. It is hoped that this study will be used to improve these schemes in the future. The project also produced eight information signs for the project sites and five different information folders. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).