In order to protect valuable spruce stands and prevent the threat of disaster associated with the proliferation of the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), a plant-harmful organism, the government approved an order from the Ministry of Agriculture (ZM) on Tuesday, 28 March, declaring a state of emergency and setting economic activity restrictions and protective measures to reduce bark beetle activity.

 

The 28 March LTV1 programme Panorāma featured a segment on the declared state of emergency to prevent damage from spruce bark beetles. In the report, Agnis Šmits, lead researcher in the forest entomology research direction at the Latvian State Forest Research Institute Silava, explains why damaged spruce stands can no longer be saved and how to protect valuable spruce stands that have not yet been infested by bark beetles.

 

The 28 March LTV1 programme Rīta Panorāma featured a segment on Māris Laiviņš, a leading researcher and habilitated doctor at the Latvian State Forest Research Institute Silava, who was awarded the Kaspars Bušs Prize in forest ecology and forestry by the Latvian Academy of Sciences on 17 January this year for his significant contribution to Latvian forest science.

 

Soil research work begun last year will continue this year in Platone Parish, carried out by scientists from the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences of the University of Latvia (LU GZZF). Field work for the soil survey in Platone will begin this year on 1 April and last for four to six weeks. During this time, LU GZZF scientists will carry out soil mapping across the parish's agricultural land and, at certain points, take deep-core samples.

 

 

 

 

On 30 March, an inter-institutional meeting organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) and Latvenergo took place in Ķegums regarding flood risks, their management, and the improvement of system operations, also evaluating the flood disaster threats and institutional response in Jēkabpils city and its surroundings this past January.

 

 

The Nature Conservation Agency (the Agency) will issue permits until 28 April to service providers for organized boat trips in the floodplains of the 'Dvietes paliene' nature park within the nature reserve zone. After receiving a permit, boaters without a guide will be able to take a circular route from Bird Island in Gulbji to Lake Skuķu. Conversely, the route from the Dvietes bridge (road V-783) to the bridge on the Bebrene-Zariņi-Dviete road (V-710) can only be travelled accompanied by a guide provided by the service provider.

 

Based on the proposal of the approved species protection plan for the Barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus), a new specially protected nature territory is being created through a draft Cabinet of Ministers regulation 'Regulations on Protected Landscape Areas' – the 'Koknese-Odziena' protected landscape area (AAA 'Koknese-Odziena') for the protection of Barbastelle bat habitats, as well as simultaneously for the preservation of other specially protected species habitats and biotopes located in the landscape area.

 

 

The giant root rot fungus Phlebiopsis gigantea grows on dead conifers. It is widely used to inhibit the spread of other fungi, such as the destructive root rot, and to protect growing trees from dying. The article shows that the growth and spore formation rate of the giant root rot fungus is significantly influenced by whether the fungus mycelium is obtained from pines or spruces. The results of the research can be used to improve forest protection methods.

 

 

 

 

It is very likely that, due to climate change, we will have to reckon with flood seasons from December to April in the future, which is why the Latvenergo Daugava HPP cascade was prepared for operation under high inflow conditions and is ready for the predicted large volume of water. The Daugava HPP is working at full available capacity. At the moment, the water inflow exceeds the amount of water used in electricity production by the Ķegums HPP, and several station gates have been opened to safely divert the water flow, the company informed.

 

According to the forecasts of the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC), the water flow in the Daugava at Pļaviņas will remain above 2000 cubic metres per second, which is considered high, until at least 10 April. In January, February, and the first half of March, this figure was mostly in the range of 600-1600 cubic metres per second.

 

 

The construction of a used catalyst recycling plant in Southern Kurzeme may not materialize – both local residents and municipal councillors are against it. The biggest uncertainty concerns the environmental impact this plant will have, and, moreover, an expert report has not yet been received. Meanwhile, plant representatives say that as a result, the municipality could miss out on both new jobs and investments.

 

Environmental organizations challenged the compliance of the law supported by the Saeima last September, which sets the status of a national interest object for the Skulte Liquefied Natural Gas terminal, with Article 115 of the Constitution. This article stipulates that the state protects everyone's right to live in a favourable environment by providing information about the state of the environment and by caring for its preservation and improvement.

 

 

 

 

The most significant thing I would like to emphasize is that the aspect of repression was dominant in the works of the 90s and the turn of the 20th/21st century, which is understandable when talking about Stalinist policy, because various types of repression – political and non-political – were the main instrument of Sovietization. Most publications were about the post-war or late Stalinism – about repression, resistance (mostly armed), and the collectivization of agriculture. There were also quite a few publications about the fates of cultural workers and cultural processes. A quite well-developed field of research in Latvia is the study of individual and collective memory. Work on the book took quite a long time, and by then, the number of publications on other topics, such as the activities of national communists and the economy, was increasing.