Project title:	»Intermittent Cerknica Lake«
Acronym:	Cerkniško jezero
Project number:	LIFE06 NAT/SI/000069
Coordinating beneficiary:	Notranjska Regional Park
Other beneficiary:	University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty - Department of Biology Inženiring za vode d.o.o.
Financial supporters of the project:	Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Municipality of Cerknica
Project duration:	01/01/2007–31/12/2009
Total eligible budget:	1.840.584,00 €

The Lake Cerknica, which dries up periodically, is the largest intermittent lake in Europe. Through the centuries, people have tried to dry up the lake or flood it permanently. They carried out many different projects, until we realized that it is best for the lake to remain as it has been through the centuries, before many interventions into it.

The aim of the project is to establish conditions that will, in the long term, ensure favorable conditions for habitat type 3180 – the intermittent lake – and other endangered habitat types from Annex 1, thereby providing favorable conditions for the nesting of endangered bird species, for the life of amphibians, butterflies and other animals. With the project we will promote a more nature-friendly relationship between people and nature, its biodiversity. The project is the beginning of long-term processes of renaturation of former waterways, research and monitoring of natural processes, and the intertwining of nature and humans, which has been present in this area for several millennia.

Project objectives:

• The main objective of the project is to improve the hydrological conditions of watercourses that have been previously altered by drainage measures.
• We aim to provide favorable living conditions for animal and plant species within the project area.
• We want to mitigate the problem of vegetation overgrowth on abandoned agricultural lands.
• A large part of our efforts is focused on educating young people and raising public awareness about the importance of the project and nature conservation.