Worth knowing! 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”
21 September, the Autumn Plant Parade in Sigulda
On 25 September an information seminar organised by the Nature Conservation Agency on the results of the project “Monitoring of invasive species in specially protected nature territories using the environmental DNA method”
27 September, European Researchers' Night
Until 30 September we invite you to nominate a tree and its story for the “European Tree of the Year” competition
10-11 October, the international conference “Old-growth forests: policy and practice” (“Vecie meži: politikas un prakse”)
On 11 October the conference “The furniture manufacturing industry in Latvia and worldwide. Today and tomorrow”
Until 11 Octoberthere is an opportunity to applyfor the open tender “Provision of forest regeneration, tending and protection services in 2025-2028 under a general agreement” announced by AS “Latvijas valsts meži”
Until 15 October there is an opportunity to apply for the open tender “Mechanised forest sowing, soil preparation in strips with a disc plough and soil preparation forming mounds with a rotary mounder, in 2025-2029” announced by AS “Latvijas valsts meži”
The “Ziedu ceļos” campaign from 1 February to 30 October
Baloži peat railway excursions still running this autumn
Hikes in the Krustkalni Nature Reserve on 21 September and 12 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
On 16 September, after the storm, the Latvijas valsts meži nature park in Tērvete opened its doors to visitors again. Although work to clear the storm damage is still under way, the most important tasks have been completed.
Highlighting timber's excellent physical and aesthetic properties, Latvia's leading wood construction experts have singled out the Mežvidi tree nursery, brought into service by AS “Latvijas valsts meži” at the end of 2023, as a particularly good example of wood construction.
Export revenue from forest sector products reached 1.73 billion euros in 2024, almost the same as in the equivalent period of 2023. The reason is the relatively poor market situation in the construction and wooden packaging segments abroad.
https://kuldigasnovads.lv/renda-attista-valriekstu-audzesanu/
Eduards' farm successfully grows Nordic walnut varieties that are adapted to the harsh climate and can grow in any Latvian garden. These varieties are prized for their high quality and particularly sweet taste, which sets them apart from other nuts grown in warmer climate zones.
Official matters
On 19 September the Saeima confirmed Mārtiņš Āboliņš as a member of the State Audit Office Council (for a four-year term). Under the State Audit Office Law, members of the State Audit Office Council are confirmed by the Saeima for four years on the recommendation of the Auditor General, with the possibility of re-election for a second term. A member of the State Audit Office Council also performs the duties of an audit department director.
In investing 3.1 million euros in building its own network of electric vehicle charging stations, the Ministry of Agriculture did not act in line with its own development plans or in a meaningful way, a State Audit Office audit has concluded.
Following the breaches identified in the State Audit Office (VK) audit of the Ministry of Agriculture's electric vehicle charging station network, Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze has instructed the ministry to set up an internal investigation committee. The committee will assess the irregularities and breaches identified by the VK in the creation of the electric vehicle charging station network, and will also check whether the requirements of the regulatory framework were observed in setting it up.
September saw the start of the modernisation and reconstruction of the Reinis polder pumping station, a strategically important project for Latvia. Renovating the pumping station at the Reinis polder, which is located in Nīca parish, South Kurzeme municipality, is one of the works planned under the overall flood risk reduction measure*.
Work on fully establishing the Ministry of Climate and Energy, which will from now on also oversee environmental protection policy, has likewise been completed under this government.
A Saeima committee has undertaken to review the state's portfolio of capital companies. Several sittings are planned, and today began with the Ministry of Transport, which is the holder of state capital shares in 13 state capital companies and in the private capital company airBaltic Corporation.
On the economy
Latvia's economy is moving from a wage and price spiral into a calmer regime of change.
The changes to the labour tax rate proposed by the Ministry of Finance and the increase in the minimum wage from next year have, not without reason, drawn no small amount of criticism.
Underwater drones are intended for two main tasks – border control and the protection of underwater infrastructure – and in future they could also be used offensively as combat drones.
“It will be a unique product worldwide, one that will help us stay especially vigilant not only on land and in the air, but also underwater,” stresses the underwater drone's creator, Kārlis Bērziņš.
“It will be a unique product worldwide, one that will help us stay especially vigilant not only on land and in the air, but also underwater,” stresses the underwater drone's creator, Kārlis Bērziņš.
On wind farms
AS Latvenergo has become the owner of 100% of the capital shares of SIA Laflora Energy, in order to build a wind power plant with a total capacity of 108.8 MW (megawatts) in the former peat extraction area of the peat producer SIA Laflora at Kaigu bog in Līvbērze parish, and to begin generating electricity in June 2026.
The wind farm is being built on the former peat extraction areas of Kaigu bog, providing for their recultivation. The wind farm will have 16 of the most advanced “Nordex” wind turbines in the Baltics, each with a capacity of 6.8 MW and a height of 266.5 m to the highest point of the blade. The wind farm will generate more than 350 GWh of electricity a year, or roughly 5% of Latvia's total annual electricity consumption.
On colleagues' achievements
This year marks the 165th anniversary of J. Čakste's birth, and the recipient of the scholarship named after him is Jānis Platacis, who also celebrates his birthday on 14 September. The scholarship named after J. Čakste has now been awarded for the 18th time, and this year it went to Jānis Platacis, a student on the professional bachelor's study programme “Forest Engineer” at the LBTU Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences.
On environmental matters
...by analysing the data geospatially, we can arrive at further conclusions that are substantial and important for forest management. The information the company has gathered on lesser spotted eagles was used in preparing an entry for the National Encyclopaedia of Latvia.
Riga will now have another forest park – in Anniņmuiža forest – according to binding regulations on the creation of a forest park that have come into force. Until now, two forest parks had been established in Riga: Mežaparks and Mārupīte forest park. Anniņmuiža forest park is the third, and its territory includes Anniņmuiža forest and Vecanniņmuiža park.
...many have gone missing in the floods brought by storm Boris in several Central European countries. The floods have caused considerable chaos, creating widespread traffic disruption and leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity. A Latvian Television film crew in the Czech Republic was also trapped for several hours today between flooded roads.
Over the past weekend, a family that had gone mushroom picking in the Vaiņode forest was startled by a bear, the South Kurzeme municipal authority reports.
In Valka municipality, in a forest not far from Omuļi, surveyor Elvis came across a female bear with cubs.
In Valmiera municipality, one of Latvia's largest ancient oaks has been badly damaged by fire – after a thunderstorm, during which the tree was struck by lightning, the oak began to burn. Firefighters battled for several hours in an effort to save the ancient oak.
The case recorded at the weekend, in which one of Latvia's largest ancient trees – the Dambji oak – caught fire as a result of a lightning strike, is rare, but it is a process that does occur in nature, and for the time being it is not possible to predict clearly whether this incident will have done substantial harm to the tree's viability.
Residents of Jūrmala announced on the social medium “Facebook” that an area of forest in Jūrmala, in Melluži, had been felled, leaving almost no trees at all. Both the author of the post and those commenting on it expressed outrage that the forest had been “swept clean” of trees.
On hunting
Game animal limits in Latvia
On 18 September, Riga City Council adopted binding regulations on hunting within the administrative territory of the city of Riga in cases where game animals threaten public order and safety or cause damage.
The enemy never sleeps, in all sorts of ways...
In the summer of 2023, France announced that it had uncovered an extensive Russian disinformation campaign. As part of it, a wide network was set up online imitating the pages of French media outlets and state institutions. It is used to spread Kremlin propaganda and news supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. The campaign was called “Doppelganger”, and in Latvia it first became apparent through a wave of bots defending the Latvian ice hockey players who had gone to Russia's sports games.
The poet Māra Zālīte acknowledges that the fuss that has been stirred up is valuable: “Perhaps we do need to remind ourselves from time to time who we are, how we came to this, how we can preserve this status amid the dreadful globalisation, migration and so on, and to work at it – but on no account by declaring that we are a two-community state.”
The Baltic states and Poland should stop “migrant pushbacks” and reduce the time these people spend in forests, according to the position set out in the report “The dangerous route: migrant deaths at the European Union-Belarus border” by the refugee support organisation “Gribu palīdzēt bēgļiem”.
Eighty-six years passed, and the fate of “Skatuve” became the subject of two films made in Latvia at once: Dāvis Sīmanis' feature film “Marijas klusums” (“Maria's Silence”) and Darja Violina and Sergejs Pavlovskis' artistic documentary “Zudušais teātris” (“The Lost Theatre”).
The 11 video recordings of conversations with Latvian residents and Ukrainian video blogger Edgars Mirotvorecs that TVNET+ has obtained are a reminder that the “Russkij mir” world has not simply vanished without trace in Latvia. It lurks in the shadows and waits for a chance to sow ruin here too. For some it is a surprise, for others old news, but these conversations are a reminder of how important Ukraine's victory in this war is. Not only for Ukrainians, but for the entire civilised world. For us as well.
Current affairs in cartoons
