Upcoming events
### Voting for the European Tree of the Year in Latvia continues until 1 November voting for the European Tree of the Year in Latvia
We invite you to remember that you can choose the tree with the most vibrant story, cast your vote, and encourage your relatives, friends, and colleagues to take part!
### The 11th International Conference on Biodiversity Research (ICBR 2022) continues in Daugavpils from 20 to 22 October
### 28 October: Faculty of Forestry reunion
### 3 November: LMSP 7th International Conference “Sustainability of Land Use Sectors – Under Conditions of European Environmental Policy Requirements and Geopolitical Reality” at the Faculty of Forestry of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLU)
About the tender for logging contractors
https://www.lvm.lv/jaunumi/6566-aicinam-mezizstrades-pakalpojuma-sniedzejus-piedalities-konkursa
Until 24 October, JSC “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) invites logging service providers to participate in the tender “Roundwood production services 2023-2027.” The subject of this open procurement tender includes the preparation and forwarding of timber with a volume of 804,000 m3 per year for thinning and 1,995,000 m3 per year for regeneration felling.
National news
Due to staff shortages, the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) will temporarily and periodically suspend operations at certain less busy stations if necessary to ensure the operation of other units and stations. The VUGD will continue to respond to calls at the same level as before, with the nearest available structural units attending incidents. Residents will continue to receive assistance in life- and health-threatening situations.
Latvia pointed out that the extraordinary rise in production resource prices has negatively affected all of agriculture; however, in some sectors, the impact is many times stronger than in others, forcing producers to balance on the edge of survival. The rise in prices for feed grain, mineral fertilisers, and natural gas has put pig, poultry, beef, and dairy farmers in a very difficult position. Vegetable growers are also in a very complicated situation, especially those cultivating in indoor areas with high fuel consumption. In reality, the price of all agricultural produce, and even its increase, is unable to cover the extremely inflated production costs.
In a few weeks, support of 42.9 million euros will be available for the construction of low-rent housing in the regions, Minister of Economics Ilze Indriksone (NA) said at a webinar on Thursday. The support programme has been designed to address market gaps and provide high-quality and affordable rental housing in the regions for households that cannot afford housing at market prices due to insufficient income...
New draft Cabinet of Ministers regulations have been developed to clarify the administrative division of specially protected avenues and dendrological plantings (DP) in accordance with the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, and to update the boundaries of these territories and their cartographic material. They provide for the designation of a few new specially protected nature areas, as well as changing or cancelling the protection status of some existing territories. In total, the scope of the planned amendments exceeds 50% of the currently valid legislation, which is why new regulations have been drafted, about which the relevant landowners will be informed.
Developments in and around the sector
Based on climate and energy policy, the development of wind farms is being planned, which is a significant step in ensuring Latvia's energy independence. Over the next few years, it is planned to increase the volume of energy wood chip production as much as possible, which LVM sells to heat and energy product manufacturing companies operating in Latvia. The company's social responsibility policy plays a significant role in the strategy, not only by developing tourism, recreation, and environmental education opportunities for the country's population but also by providing jobs in Latvia's regions and making donations to fields important to the state of Latvia, so that the largest possible part of society benefits from it.
In Latvia, the wolf population is considered unthreatened and stable; however, the number of reports about wolf attacks and the pets affected by them has increased significantly. The wolf is a part of nature with its own place in Latvia's ecosystem, so it is necessary to reduce conflicts in society and promote coexistence with the wolf population.
Leading global carbon project developer and climate solutions provider South Pole has signed a cooperation agreement with agricultural technology company eAgronom to promote the implementation of smart agriculture in Europe, Africa, and other parts of the world. By participating in the carbon programme, this partnership will mean farmers have the opportunity to sell generated carbon to companies worldwide, receive pre-payments for high-quality Verra-certified carbon credits, and obtain immediate support for implementing sustainable agricultural practices.
Hunter Rihards Bērziņš says that his hunting collective has decided not to start the season just yet. The animals aren't going anywhere; a couple of weeks can wait. Safety comes first.
“In a normal situation, a hunter sees and hears everything. Of course, there can be surprises. Some mushroom picker might be moving quietly through the forest and go unnoticed. In any case, before taking a shot, the hunter ensures safety, the direction they are shooting in, and whether there is any pet, person, car, or anything else behind the target animal,” hunter Rihards Bērziņš said.
Particle boards are a natural, environmentally friendly, and health-safe material. While thinking about how to make their production even more sustainable, we looked for opportunities to utilise our production waste, secondary boards, or boards already dismantled from sites by incorporating them into other materials,” says Ingars Ūdris, Member of the Board of SIA Cewood.
The company is developing rapidly – since its founding in 2015, it has become not only one of the largest employers in the Alūksne municipality but also the only manufacturer of wood wool panels in the Baltics. A new factory is currently being built to ensure an increase in production capacity, and as growth continues, it is essential to develop zero-waste production.
Regular monitoring of the northern goshawk, carried out by the environmental experts of JSC “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM), allows for the tracking of the nesting success of this protected bird. This year, 195 territories were checked as part of the northern goshawk monitoring, where 116 occupied nests were identified. This year, there has been a record number of successful nests in Latvia's state forests – 81.
It seems that few will not have noticed the earthquake that has shaken the energy resource market over the last year. To mitigate the impact of a potential energy crisis, more than one European country is being forced to carefully consider which fuel to use to ensure electricity and heat production.
The structure of forest ownership is different in every country. In Central Europe – Romania, Slovakia – shared ownership is common. This has developed historically – the village inhabitants own the forest, each with certain theoretical shares. These can be used both for obtaining firewood and for receiving profit dividends. It is important that the forest always remains the property of the local community, as an owner can only sell their shares to members of the community. It is also found to a lesser extent in Finland.
The identification of natural values, various geological objects, avenues, habitats, and protected species in Latvia began in the 1920s. The founder of Latvian veteran tree research, forester Staņislavs Saliņš, introduced the term “dižkoks” (veteran tree) in the 1960s, and it was he who suggested using the trunk circumference at 1.3 m from the ground as the main criterion for a veteran tree. Veteran trees in Latvia have always been respected, although public knowledge about them is incomplete. For example, one of the misleading stereotypes is that only oaks can obtain veteran tree status. However, if one looks more closely at trees in nature, the green-and-white “Oak Leaf” recognition sign is attached to trees of various species.
Other important news
Firstly, one of the primary tasks would be to increase Latvia's energy independence from imported energy resources (gas, oil products) by producing more energy from local resources, such as water, sun, wind, wood, biogas, and biofuels.
Representatives of Latvia in the council drew attention to the fact that the situation with mineral fertilisers is critical and the spring season is awaited with concern - if the situation does not improve, the total harvest will be significantly affected, which may create risks for further food security.
The Ministry of Agriculture (ZM) notes that it is awaiting a public announcement from the European Commission (EC) regarding a strategy to resolve the mineral fertiliser crisis, which is planned to be released in early November.
The situation, in my opinion, is different regarding Latvia's internal politics. It is perfectly clear that that significant part of Latvia's political and economic elite, which for years has lived well by serving Russian money flows in the broad sense, is, to put it mildly, unconvincing in its public condemnation of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
At the Kreicbergs family farm “Andulaiši” in Zvārde, Saldus municipality, Māris has been involved in beekeeping for 23 years, and he disagrees with Puķe’s conclusion. Over these years, Māris has succeeded well in getting to know bees, and as a result, the number of colonies is increasing every year.
https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/arpus-etera/arpus-etera/iveta-kazoka-nemiers-par-eiropas-nakotni-un-strategiska-talredziba.a478318/
The modern world is characterised by a trend: if you move at the same speed as you did before, it means that you are starting to fall behind. Unfortunately, many signs in the modern European Union (EU) indicate that we have decided to move at our previous speed.
Did you notice that in September the President of the European Commission issued a call to convene a European Convention to reform the European Union? I assume that in Latvia, at most a few hundred citizens paid attention to this. The noise of the Saeima elections is not the only explanation for this neglect. Several countries do not want a European Convention to be convened for the time being, including Latvia. The reason: there is already plenty of work, and there is no sense that the member states actually want these reforms.
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Interesting news from elsewhere
The review includes various components, and some of them are already being implemented, including a ban on “forever chemicals.” However, a significant element is raising more and more doubts – the review of the 2006 Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals – REACH.
The lunchroom of the new Helsinki secondary school smells like a pine forest, but there is no aromatic air freshener there. Instead, most of the five-storey building is built of wood.
The school will only be finished next year, although many of the internal walls are already covered with smooth wooden panels. Wood has also been used in the load-bearing structures to support the ceilings between floors, and as exterior cladding.
At a meeting in Montreal, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) committed to supporting the “aspirational” goal of reaching “net zero” emissions in the aviation sector by 2050. This plan, which many considered a compromise, was adopted by 193 countries that are ICAO members.
The plan involves injecting sun-blocking particles into the upper atmosphere; it is still in the early stages of research.
Some leaders in Prague expressed concern that the domestic proposal of Europe's largest economy could create disadvantageous conditions for smaller countries and harm EU unity.
"It is baffling that Coca-Cola – the world's largest plastic polluter in all global 'Break Free From Plastic' brand audits, including in Kenya and Uganda – will sponsor this year's UNFCCC COP in Egypt," says Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar.