The industry
...the Latvian forestry and wood-processing industry as a whole, the two years of Evika Siliņa's government, and the widely discussed possible closure of the border with Russia were all under review.youtube.com
The resignation is linked to the government's decision to show unprecedented accommodation to certain timber industrialists who had bid for three-year contracts at relatively high prices in “Latvijas valsts meži” auctions.delfi.lv
The media have reported on a mysterious informative report from the 19 December 2023 sitting of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers, “On reducing the factors negatively affecting the competitiveness of the Latvian timber industry”, after which the relevant decisions were taken on the sale prices of the sawlogs traded by the state joint-stock company “Latvijas valsts meži”.diena.lv
At the end of 2023 the government took a decision on the basis of which Latvia's largest timber companies were able to buy sawlogs from LVM at a more favourable price than they had previously agreed with the company. lsm.lv
The Competition Council has decided to allow Nextwood Two GmbH to acquire sole decisive influence over the limited liability company Kurekss. In assessing the transaction's impact on competition, the Competition Council found no significant harm to effective competition, and the transaction was therefore permitted.db.lv
For the eighth year running, “Latvijas valsts meži” is presenting awards of recognition to timber haulage service providers.lvm.lv
Over the past three years, Latvia has become one of the world leaders in the export of wooden seats and parts of wooden seats.db.lv
At the beginning of this year the Cabinet of Ministers agreed on a common position on how to manage forests so as to strike a balance between maintaining biological diversity and meeting economic – in other words, bioeconomy – objectives: to do that, areas with different principal purposes need to be separated.apollo.lv
Many people do not even know that European bison, the largest land mammals in Europe, live in the wild in Latvia. Their presence is one of the clearest pieces of evidence that nature conservation and reintroduction programmes can bear real fruit.medibam.lv
If the team is a good one, you come to work gladly!finieris.com
“Rīgas meži” is resuming logging in the Mežāri forest near Imanta – the area between Kurzemes prospekts, the power line and Kleistu iela. In this forest, covering roughly 120 hectares, selective felling using the gap method is being carried out in line with the landscape design plan drawn up, along with thinning.rigasmezi.lv
...at the end of October “Rīgas meži” will begin logging in the Jugla forest district, Ropaži municipality, in the forest tract near Garkalne.rigasmezi.lv
Forest owners field a great many calls from forest buyers offering to purchase their property. It is said to be irritating. lsm.lv
The total felling volume for the next five years is set by the Cabinet of Ministers, and for this period we are counting on roughly seven million cubic metres a year.lsm.lv
The situation is particularly sad in Ķemeri National Park near Riga. In this specially protected nature territory the volume of dumped waste exceeds 15 tonnes every year.daba.gov.lv
The Nature Conservation Agency is once again announcing three electronic auctions for the extraction of firewood and branches for wood chips in Ķemeri and Sigulda. daba.gov.lv
The big deal
The deal by the Swedish forest owners' association Södra, under which it will sell the 153,000 hectares of land it owns in the Baltics for 720 million euros to the IKEA-linked company Ingka Investments, is a good signal to other potential foreign investors and to Latvia as well.tvnet.lv
The Ministry of Agriculture welcomes the agreement between the investment and forest management company Ingka Investments and Sweden's largest forest owners' association and forestry group Södra on the purchase of 135,000 hectares of land in Latvia.zm.gov.lv
The Ministry of Agriculture explained to the LETA news agency that a government decision will be required regardless of the Competition Council's decision.db.lv
Opportunities in other countries are being considered too, but a great deal depends on what comes onto the market and whether it fits our vision of strategic development. As I have already said, opportunities like this one do not come along all that often. db.lv
...offers to buy land on this scale come up rarely, and that was one of the reasons why it caught the company's interest. The investor is aware of the risks posed by Latvia's aggressive neighbouring countries, but has no doubts about the security and future of the investment. lsm.lv
Officially
The conversation covered the requirements of the Deforestation Regulation and ways of reducing the bureaucratic burden of implementing it. The growing populations of wolves, lynx and bears in Latvia's forests were also discussed, as was the importance of peat to the national economy.zm.gov.lv
...in order to provide crisis assistance to farmers in difficulty, Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze has instructed the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre to set up communication channels (telephone, e-mail, online form, in person) by 24 October.zm.gov.lv
The total public funding earmarked for the measure up to 2029 is 6 million euros, of which EU co-financing accounts for 5.1 million euros (85%) and Latvian state funding for 900 thousand euros (15%).zm.gov.lv
Latvia already has a comparatively high share of renewable energy in the electricity and heating sectors, but in the transport sector we import all our fossil fuels. kem.gov.lv
The map is the first step towards purposeful and balanced industrial development planning in Latvia. Such a tool will be available for the first time, bringing together in one place information on sites where production facilities could be built in future and infrastructure projects developed, including renewable energy generation projects.kem.gov.lv
What is green and what is not
Residents of Skrīveri village are alarmed by the plan of the state company “Latvijas valsts ceļi” to fell eleven century-old oaks in order to build a pavement for pedestrians and a path for cyclists from the village centre to the Riga–Daugavpils highway and Klidziņa. lasi.lv
At a time when discussions about “right” or “wrong” management of Latvia's forests have been and continue to be raised in society, in our view the felling of a row of trees of venerable age “just because the project provides for it”, perhaps in the name of good aims (which the account given by the person who nominated the trees hardly bears out), is not acceptable. zemeunvalsts.lv
The digital future
The digital identity wallet is one of the most significant European digital transformation projects of the coming years, and its introduction is provided for by the regulation on EU digital identity adopted by the European Parliament on 29 March 2024.nra.lv
Will it work out?
The Director of the State Chancellery also stresses that work on reducing the administrative burden is continuous and is not confined to the task force alone – it also goes on in the sectoral ministries and in the context of cutting expenditure and using state budget funds more efficiently. db.lv
Hunting
Medības is an important platform where important questions about the future of hunting and the preservation of traditions are discussed. Without it, hunters' voices will be quieter.medibam.lv
In mid-October, local residents in Estonia's Pärnu county spotted a sika deer (Cervus nippon) stag – an invasive species regarded as undesirable in this region.medibam.lv
History
Laws can set out a procedure that everyone understands for financing the development of facilities of national importance.tvnet.lv
On 1 November the Christmas Battles Museum will hold the opening celebration of its renewed open-air exposition “Time of Heroes”zz.lv
In the environment
The ecosystem services assessment will be carried out on the project's seven watercourses and in their protective belts: the Salaca, Jaunupe, Svētupe, Korģe, Jogla, Iģe and Glāžupe. daba.gov.lv
The highest rating and the special nomination “For landscape values shaped by the interaction of people and nature” went to the Latvian Fund for Nature project “Restoration of park-like meadows at “Lejzemnieki” and “Kalnkalči” in Ziemeļgauja”.varam.gov.lv
The Dundaga pond, 10 hectares in all, was created by damming the Pāce river. The view across the pond from the park to Dundaga Castle is historically significant, which makes clearing the pond and its banks of water plants and reeds, which have become excessively overgrown over time, all the more important. lvm.lv
Many creatures are endangered nowadays, and the zoo not only gives visitors a chance to see them, but also helps to conserve these species by taking part in breeding programmes, maintaining genetic diversity and reintroducing species into the wild.delfi.lv
...the hedgehog is in fact very fond of living around people, because here it can find everything a hedgehog needs – there are gardens and there are parks. That means there are both places to hide and build a nest and places to go and feed.lsm.lv
In order to restore and improve spawning conditions for commercially valuable fish species in the Svēte river and to increase their stocks, the riverbed and banks have been cleared along a 1,000-metre stretch as part of a State Fish Fund project.zz.lv
Only 100 years ago cows grazed in Pūzurgrava, flax grew there and farming flourished. Later, at the end of the 1980s, private houses were built near the little ravine, while the ravine itself – slowly or rapidly, depending on how you look at it – became overgrown with scrub. delfi.lv
Militant folly is still on stage
From a pulpit made of a tree stump the actor-birds tell of the forests of their childhood that were felled, and in a hotel room they wearily discuss the end of the world, but the shots of the performers asleep on the bus on the way to a guest performance seem the most telling of all. satori.lv
Krista Burāne on the human and the divine in birdsong, cognitive dissonance at the Song Festival, the danger of changing the meaning of words, and the economic traps in Latvia's forests.diena.lv
Miscellaneous
The second aspect is the fine line at which differences of opinion become more important than the questions on which there are no diametrically opposed views. History is full of unsuccessful attempts not only to draw those lines, but also to keep them. satori.lv
The criminal case investigators handed the matter over to colleagues at the bureau to assess his possible conflict of interest. However, another KNAB department also chose not to punish the former head of RS, because he took decisions concerning a company but received the gifts from a private individual.lsm.lv
The Father of the Lime Trees lives in Liepāja. Nobody has met him face to face, yet it is known that he is a man of some 400 years of age who lives goodness knows where and knows every street lamp, every cobblestone and every cornice in the city. sejas.tvnet.lv
This year lamprey fishing has been added to the Latvian list of intangible cultural heritage, and it turns out that this tradition has very strong community customs, and an “outsider” cannot become a lamprey fisherman all that easily.retv.lv
...the Norwegian expert stresses that every village has its own strengths which, if developed, can attract residents. Creating public recreation areas or tourist attractions often helps.jekabpilslaiks.lv
Current affairs in cartoons
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