In recent years, AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) has carried out extensive improvement works at more than 150 tourism sites across Latvia in order to provide comfortable, well-kept places to relax in nature. For the third year running, mammadaba.lv carries nature news in easy-to-read language, covering the observations and discoveries of environmental experts as well as news about opportunities for recreation in nature.
Over the past year, the most-read articles in easy-to-read language have included an educational piece on the capercaillie's menu, along with information about the refurbished free LVM recreation site with a viewing platform and wooden steps at Pūsēnu kalns. This is a beautiful spot in Kurzeme offering impressive views and amenities for nature lovers.
Tomass Kotovičs, Head of the LVM Communications Department, notes:
“We greatly value our close cooperation with easy-to-read language experts. For the third year now, information on our website mammadaba.lv can be read in easy-to-read language – not only descriptions of tourism destinations, but nature news as well. In providing Latvia's residents and visitors with the chance to enjoy more than 300 free tourism sites across Latvia, we bear in mind environmental accessibility for people with mobility impairments, so that everyone has the opportunity to get out into nature. We are proud that we can also provide information about recreation in nature in easy-to-read language, and the statistics confirm that readers appreciate our efforts.”
Producing nature news in easy-to-read language is a continuation of the accessibility work on the mammadaba website that began in 2022. The texts of the news items gathered in this section meet easy-to-read language requirements at the level of both language and visual layout. The main purpose of such texts is to convey information in a clearly understandable way. Information in easy-to-read language matters to a range of groups: people who are hard of hearing, people with dementia or dyslexia, people who have had a stroke, newcomers with limited language skills, people with intellectual disabilities and others.
Nature news in easy-to-read language can be found on the mammadaba website by selecting easy-to-read language from among all the available languages in the language menu.
NATURE NEWS IN EASY-TO-READ LANGUAGE
The mammadaba website brings together information about the tourism and recreation sites established and maintained by LVM throughout Latvia. To make the information accessible to people with visual impairments as well, the colour contrast and font size on the website can be adjusted. Information about the most popular LVM tourism sites is also published in Ukrainian.
From 2024 to 2029, LVM, in cooperation with the Nature Conservation Agency, will implement the European Union co-funded project “Restoration of mire ecosystems in specially protected nature territories”. Information about the project and related updates can also be read in easy-to-read language.