“The Old Polypore Mushroom is the voice of an old, natural, biologically valuable forest, through whose stories the entire story of the forest is revealed – how it was formed, its structure, its inhabitants and their interactions, how the forest feels, and how it views our – human – actions. This is an unusual and exciting format for talking about nature – dynamic stories that capture attention with attractive characters and humor. The complex aspects of a biologically valuable ecosystem are presented simply and clearly, without losing scientific foundation. Leading nature experts from the Nature Conservation Agency participated in the development of the short films,” says Andris Širovs, Acting Director General of the Nature Conservation Agency of Latvia.
The Nature Conservation Agency invites educational institutions to use “Stories of Old Polypore Mushroom” as supplementary materials in the learning process, to promote understanding of the interconnected web of life in the forest in an engaging way.
The short film series is available here: https://latvianature.daba.gov.lv/en/stories-of-old-polypore-mushroom/
The series consists of ten short films, each approximately two minutes long, on useful topics:
- “The Interconnected Life of the Forest”: about the interconnected life of the forest and the large web of life – the ecosystem of a biologically valuable forest;
- “What is a Forest?”: about forest structure;
- “The Beginning”: about how a forest forms and how long it takes;
- “The Big Ones”: about the giants of the forest – large trees and their importance in the forest ecosystem;
- “The Small Ones”: about insects, lichens, mosses, fungi, bacteria, and other “small” inhabitants of the forest;
- “The Fallen Ones”: about the importance and irreplaceable role of fallen trees in a biologically diverse forest ecosystem;
- “Rhythm”: about the processes in the forest throughout the year;
- “Human”: about human impact on the forest and balanced coexistence;
- “The Chessboard”: about forest fragmentation and its impact on biodiversity;
- “The Forest after 100 Years”: how the forest will develop.
“Stories of Old Polypore Mushroom” were created in collaboration with the agency “WKND,” which transformed scientific information into an attractive, social media-friendly, and attention-grabbing format. The script for the films was written by Liene Brizga-Kalniņa, and the films were developed with the participation of LatViaNature project experts from the Nature Conservation Agency – Linda Uzule, Sandra Ikauniece, Ivars Leimanis, Ģirts Baranovskis, Ieva Saleniece, and Anda Zakenfelde.
The short films “Stories of Old Polypore Mushroom” were made within the LIFE program project LatViaNature, implemented by the Nature Conservation Agency, involving 10 partners – the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the University of Latvia, Daugavpils University, the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, and Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, as well as the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre, AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (Latvian State Forests), the Latvian Fund for Nature, and the World Wildlife Fund. More information: LatViaNature.daba.gov.lv.
Additional information:
Anda Zakenfelde
Nature Conservation Agency
LIFE-IP LatViaNature
Communications Manager
+371 26539348
anda.zakenfelde@daba.gov.lv
