Worth knowing! On upcoming and current events
On 5 December at the LBTU Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences
The 9th LMSP International Conference “Scientific, economic and social aspects of natural resource use in the current environmental and geopolitical context”
On 19 and 20 October, the “Paw Detective” hiking event on the Līgatne nature trails
The “Flower Roads” campaign from 1 February to 30 October
From 18 May, the exhibition “From the Birch Seed to Betulin” at the Pharmacy Museum
27-29 March 2025, the 12th Baltic Theriological Conference “Baltic mammals in the turbulence of anthropogenic tensions”
On industry matters
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved an informative report prepared by the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development on a proposal for providing compensation for restrictions on economic activity in specially protected nature areas, including on the possible sources of funding to cover such compensation.
Arvīds Ozols will be removed from the post of Director General of the State Forest Service with effect from 8 November 2024, on his reaching the state-set retirement age, under a draft order prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and put forward for approval.
This time, seedlings from the new Mežvidi nursery in Madona district have been delivered for the restoration of parks and green areas in the Chernihiv region. To support the restoration of Ukraine's forest areas, some 40,000 seedlings have been donated in total over the spring and autumn forest regeneration seasons.
At present there are around 300,000 hectares of land in Latvia that officially count as agricultural land but are in reality not being managed. The reasons for this vary: unclear ownership status, drawn-out inheritance cases, various restrictions and so on. In reality these areas have long since become overgrown with scrub, yet “on paper” they still count as agricultural land. And so — Latvia could play this land as a strong card in striking a deal with the European Union.
The Jaunjelgava-based companies “MV Tara”, “Latgran” and “Billerud Latvia” were among the places visited by Inga Bērziņa, Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development, who spoke with the heads of forest industry companies.
During the meeting, the Minister for Agriculture also informed the MEPs that Latvia needs to secure increased funding for rural development, as over the previous two periods the funding available to our country's agriculture has been cut by more than 200 million euros.
The Central Finance and Contracting Agency has once again launched an open call for projects for European Union fund support towards drawing up plans for the conservation of biological diversity and the protection of ecosystems in specially protected nature areas. The European Regional Development Fund money remaining for local governments under this programme is 1.7 million euros.
On economic matters
A fundamental precondition for Latvia's development is grounding the competitive advantages of its economy in technological factors, production efficiency and innovation, as well as in the ability to adapt to and make use of the opportunities created by global change.
...investment in internal and external security helps to set the minds of investors and businesses at ease, increasing stability in the region. Sentiment indicators in Europe have been weak of late, with no sustained or decisive upward swing. Uncertainty in the economy remains high, which correlates with the commitment to strengthening security but, so far, only a slow improvement in capability.
Reporting standards in Europe are very clearly and strictly defined. At the same time, companies are allowed to put ESG principles into practice according to their own means, ethical principles and competencies, and here there are as yet no specific standards. Fairly broad strategies and policies have been adopted, but when it comes to putting them into practice, everyone interprets them as best they can.
https://replay.lsm.lv/lv/ieraksts/ltv/339633/gatavojas-cinai-par-un-pret-es-lauksaimniecibas-reformu
The new EU plan for reforming agricultural policy will most likely be published next spring. Yet there is already considerable disquiet — over what will and will not be in it, and how to influence it while it is still being drafted. That is why Latvia's Minister for Agriculture, Armands Krauze, sought to coordinate for the coming fight in Brussels together with staff from the permanent representation and Latvia's MEPs.
On science
The Latvian Council of Science has launched an information campaign, “Science and Your Life. It All Begins with Understanding”, which will run from October to December this year.
Branches occasionally find a use in energy production, replacing imported fossil fuels. Yet countless tonnes of clean needles go unused — processing them efficiently holds potential for further economic growth.
On environmental matters
In the autumn and winter period we encounter animals on the road more often — the rutting season begins for ungulates, and animals come out to eat apples growing by the roadside or to feed on agricultural produce. With the onset of autumn, visibility also worsens, as it rains more often and there is fog, it gets light later in the mornings and darkness falls earlier in the evenings.
To save Velnezers, a special boat has been built expressly for cleaning this body of water at the lake and coastal inlet remediation company “Vattenresurs AB” in Sweden, and Swedish specialists have already put it in the water.
A bear is not a teddy bear. It is a very large, unbelievably fast, powerful and very clever animal. It is very clever. A bear remembers everything. Once it has worked out that there is something tasty to be had in that bin by your house, it will come back there again and again.
There are ever more reports of wild animals being encountered outside their usual environment. This is because animals increasingly do not perceive people as a threat. As Māris Lielkalns, a representative of Riga National Zoo, explained, humans are no longer as much of a threat to animals as they were in times past.
On buildings and construction works
In presenting this report, the main argument was the project's geopolitical significance, which we did not assess from the audit side. We also stressed that the EC must supervise more strictly these projects that are implemented by several countries.
At a government sitting at the end of August, representatives of the Ministry of Finance warned their colleagues from the transport sector that, if nothing is done, around 400 million euros could slip through their fingers.
The plan is for this quarter to become a modern and open environment that will foster cooperation between representatives of academia and the creative industries, “becoming a magnet not only for industry professionals but also for interested visitors from Latvia and abroad”.
Investors will have to restore the historic buildings, improving their energy efficiency, and will also have to tidy up and landscape the site.
The floods in Jelgava caused serious damage to both infrastructure and private property. The first emergency works were carried out during those days, but the more substantial works in the district have begun only now, as the contracts were signed only recently.
Miscellaneous
I am neither firmly for nor against the idea of allowing citizens as young as 16 to vote for local government councillors (the threshold is currently 18). In this discussion I am more interested in the arguments of the idea's opponents, which to my mind are unconvincing and to some extent even mistaken.
“It is a flag for which men gave their lives,” says Ansis, a member of the “Lāpstas grupa” search unit. On Saturday, together with his fellow members, he found a box buried in the ground in Vārve parish, Ventspils district, containing two Latvian flags — one of the pennant type and the other large in size, which may have been intended for some state institution or for decorating rooms at ceremonial events.
Everyone should be able not only to find and obtain information, but also to understand it, without calling in a lawyer or some friend with greater experience in reading bureaucratic texts.
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