On 26 November, the Cabinet of Ministers approved draft regulations prepared by the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development (VARAM), “Regulations on Protected Landscape Areas” and “Individual Protection and Use Regulations for the Protected Landscape Area “Koknese – Odziena””. The regulations provide for the establishment of a new specially protected nature territory – a protected landscape area (landscape area) – to protect the habitats of a specially protected bat species, the western barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus (barbastelle). They also set out the management arrangements for the territory in order to ensure the sustainable protection of these species.

VARAM Minister Inga Bērziņa: “Latvia's nature is our wealth, which must be preserved for future generations. By establishing the new specially protected nature territory, we are ensuring not only the protection of the habitats of the western barbastelle bat, but also the conservation of other rare species and biotopes present in the territory.”

The barbastelle is a rarely encountered bat species that overwinters in Latvia and is here at the north-eastern edge of its range. It uses a variety of roosts and biotopes, which may be considerable distances apart. The Latvian population is estimated at around 200-500 individuals, and most of the recorded sites lie outside the existing Natura 2000 network of specially protected nature territories. On the basis of research carried out during the preparation of the species protection plan for the western barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus, it was concluded that there is at least one local barbastelle population in the vicinity of Koknese and Pļaviņas.

Since the barbastelle mostly uses relatively short-lived shelters – shelters behind loose bark, which are unstable and last only one or a few seasons – the species plan requires that such roosts be permanently available in sufficient numbers in the forests inhabited by barbastelles at a broader, landscape level, particularly in forest stand compartments where pine is the dominant species. During the summer period barbastelles use a great many roosts in trees, and when foraging this species may also make flights of 5-15 km from its roosts to feeding sites in the course of a single night.

Accordingly, in order to ensure the protection of the barbastelle population in Latvia in line with the requirements of the Habitats Directive, a new specially protected nature territory is being established – the protected landscape area “Koknese – Odziena” – which includes the identified summer roosting biotopes of barbastelles, the feeding biotopes recorded, as well as several known nearby swarming/hibernation sites. The landscape area will include territory in the Aiviekste, Bebri, Klintaine, Koknese and Vietalva parishes of Aizkraukle municipality, between Koknese (not included), Pļaviņas (not included) and Odziena (included). The area of the landscape area is 18 600 ha.

The individual regulations provide for the protection of the specific forests and forest structures the barbastelle needs throughout the landscape area, setting a requirement to retain all trees with cavities, including those less than 10 cm in diameter (this does not apply to fruit trees or hazardous trees). They also provide for a ban on final felling (both clear felling and selective felling) in all broadleaf (oak, ash, lime, maple, wych elm, elm) and black alder stands, in accordance with the recommendation of the species plan. In addition, ten ecological trees per hectare of felling site must be retained, with the oldest pines chosen as a priority. The regulations likewise establish a seasonal ban (with certain exceptions) on forestry work to protect nesting birds and barbastelle young (which become able to fly in July): in the landscape protection zone from 1 May to 31 July, and in the nature reserve and nature park zones from 15 March to 31 July.

The ministry reports that the landscape protection regime is retained for the greater part, or 77.6%, of the landscape area – that is, a landscape protection zone covering 14 441.79 ha. The landscape protection zone applies to 92% of all land owned by natural persons within the landscape area and 91% of land owned by legal persons.

In most European countries, including Latvia, forestry activity is identified as the main threat to the barbastelle (in Latvia also the clearing of old manor parks, which in structure correspond to the broadleaf forests barbastelles use elsewhere in their range), resulting in the fragmentation of forest biotopes, a decline in the proportion of old forests, and the disappearance of dead and dying wood and other structures the barbastelle needs.