Good Practice - Project

LEADER helps establish an educational beekeeping trail

An educational beekeeping trail to enhance existing tourist activites.
  • CAP Implementation
  • Programming period: 2014-2022
    Ľuborča, Slowakei
    Programming period: 2014-2022
    Ľuborča, Slowakei

    General information

    RDP Priority
    • P6. Social inclusion and local development
    RDP Focus Area
    • 6B: Local development
    RDP Measure
    • M07: Basic services & village renewal
    Beneficiary type
    • Local association

    Summary

    The project was implemented by HUBERT Ľuborča Civic Association. This Slovak heritage association is dedicated to preserving and sharing the natural and cultural assets of the Ľuborča region. The project's objective was to enhance the existing tourist offer by establishing a beekeeping educational trail in the village of Nemšová and to have a positive impact on the overall attractiveness of the entire territory of the LAG Vršatec. The trail contains 12 stops, featuring educational boards, sculptures, learning features and areas with benches for relaxation. The educational trail leads to the existing Liborec Beehive, allowing tourists to observe closely how a beehive functions in its natural environment. The trail follows the embankment of an old, and now unused, forest railway. This project has enriched the region and has contributed to the development of tourism and recreational facilities.

    Results

    • The implementation of this project resulted in the creation of an aesthetically pleasing, interactive and educational trail. The entire trail consists of 12 stops, each displaying interesting information and educational boards and other attractive features to enjoy and learn from. The trail enables visitors and tourists to engage and relax in beneficial outdoor activities in the popular area of the Ľuborča district.
    • In the LAG Vršatec region, there is no other beekeeping educational trail, making this project unique, adding diversity and interest to the existing tourist activities.
    LEADER helps establish an educational beekeeping trail - Logo
    Promoter

    HUBERT Ľuborča Civic Association

    Funding

    Total budget: 15 295 (EUR)

    EAFRD: 11 471 (EUR)

    National/Regional: 3 824 (EUR)

    Context

    The HUBERT Ľuborča Civic Association is dedicated to preserving and sharing the natural and cultural assets of the Ľuborča region in north west Slovakia. At the core of their mission is to foster a deep connection between people and their heritage, envisioning a future where nature's beauty and cultural richness are celebrated and accessible to all.

    The heritage association implements initiatives such as:

    • Educational trail - the association has established and is maintaining an immersive educational trail, informing visitors about local ecology, flora, fauna, and the importance of conservation.
    • Historical preservation - historical landmarks, including chapels, are safeguarded to preserve the region’s cultural heritage.
    • Narrow-gauge railway - the association has restored a section of the track, including a locomotive and two historic wagons, offering a glimpse into the region’s transport history.
    • Community engagement - socially inclusive cultural, educational, and sports events are organised that promote belonging and shared responsibility.
    • St. Hubert's Day - the association hosts 'St. Hubert's Day' in June each year, celebrating hunting traditions and the community’s natural surroundings.

    The association works with diverse groups, such as tourists and the public, hunters, foresters, conservationists, anglers, mushroom enthusiasts, cyclists and youth. Collaboratively, the aim is to inspire responsible behaviour and nurture an appreciation for the natural surroundings and heritage of the Ľuborča region to jointly shape a harmonious coexistence between people and the environment.

    To enhance further the association’s commitment to education, conservation and community engagement, a funding application was made to LAG Vršatec to support the project idea of constructing a beekeeping trail that would complement an already existing educational trail.

    Objectives

    The project focused on improving conditions and providing a wider tourism offer for the region (to help attract and retain more visitor income) by establishing a beekeeping educational trail with additional facilities. The objective was to create an aesthetically pleasing, interactive and educational trail designed to provide interesting information and relaxation in the form of outdoor activities in the popular area of the Ľuborča district. The project also had the purpose of providing access to other interesting places and attractions that the civic association had already implemented. The educational beekeeping trail thereby was designed to seamlessly complement the existing tourist infrastructure.

    Activities

    The CAP funds were used to co-finance the design and production of interactive and educational material that was erected alongside the beekeeping trail. This included information panels, information boards, and sculptures. In addition, infrastructure items were purchased and built to enhance the visitor and tourist experience, including wooden benches and a small number of attractive features, such as an insect hotel. In detail, the activities involved:

    • Graphics and printing of information panels - graphic design of information panels, background material for information panels, photo printing of information panels, graphic design of rotary circles, background material for rotary circles and photo printing of rotary circles.
    • Information boards and supplementary infrastructure for the educational trail - wooden information panel, insect hotel, wooden statue of St. Ambrose, bear sculpture and wooden benches.

    Main results

    • The implementation of this project resulted in the creation of an aesthetic, interactive and educational trail displaying interesting information boards, and attractive features to enjoy and learn from that enable visitors and tourists to engage and relax in beneficial outdoor activities in the popular area of the Ľuborča district.
    • In the LAG Vršatec region, there is no other beekeeping educational trail, making this project unique, adding diversity and interest to the existing tourist activities.
    • The entire trail consists of 12 stops, each containing educational boards, and some have benches for relaxation. Part of the route includes a bell tower with a statue of St. Ambrose, the patron saint of beekeepers. The educational trail leads to the existing Liborča Beehive, where tourists can see how a beehive operates in a natural setting, learn about its contents, and get a closer look at the bees at work. The route also features what is known as an insect hotel. This is a purposeful and thoughtfully designed structure that serves as a home for small, solitary but highly beneficial insects.
    • The trail follows the embankment of an old forest railway that once operated in this area. At its starting point, the visitor is welcomed by a sculpture of two bears with a bee motif and a bench that provides a shaded seating area. Here, tourists can take photos of the sculpture to take home a visual memento of their visit to the beekeeping educational trail. In the event that tourists or visitors do not have the interest or time to complete the educational trail route, this sculpture can become a popular photo spot in the region.

    Key lessons

    • Combining environmental aims (bee conservation), with educational and cultural purposes, and adding fun and playful elements to the project can create successful and creative tourist activities.
    • Tourism projects such as this can establish indicators, milestones, and baselines to measure their success in terms of visitor use and other trackable performance targets demonstrating the added value achievements of LEADER and its LAGs.