Weekly review
Poll
In recent weeks, both in the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers, the thesis has been heard once again: “We must act this way, otherwise there will be penalties, infringement procedures, etc.” Often, such a pseudo-argument completely excludes reasonable disputes, discussions, or alternatives, forcing those responsible to make decisions hastily and not always in the interests of Latvia. Why is that?
Old habits are hardening - someone somewhere knows better, let us rely on them
Lack of sufficient capacity or laziness to defend a different point of view
A generation of cabinet officials has been created who are accustomed to accepting rather than delving into matters
This is a serious problem for Latvia for which no solution is being sought. It will probably be all right somehow...
Summer 2024 review (Part I)
Worth knowing! Upcoming events
On 5 December at the LBTU Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences
LMSP 9th International Conference “Scientific, economic and social aspects of natural resource use in the current environmental and geopolitical context”
The “Ziedu ceļos” campaign from 1 February to 30 October
mammadaba.lv · 3920 akcija ziedu celos 2024 aicinas apmeklet astonus ziedos…
mammadaba.lv · 3920 akcija ziedu celos 2024 aicinas apmeklet astonus ziedos…
Until 30 September we invite you to nominate a tree and its story for the “Tree of the Year” competition
Registration is open for the “LVM Forest Expeditions” planned for 2024
From 29 June the Baloži peat train excursion timetable for this summer, as well as more detailed information.
kudrasbanitis.lv · ekskursijas
On 31 August, 21 September and 12 October, hikes in the Krustkalni Nature Reserve
From 18 May the exhibition “From birch seed to betulin” at the Pharmacy Museum
27–29 March 2025, 12th Baltic Theriological Conference “Baltic mammals in the turbulence of anthropogenic tensions”
On significant changes
On 23 July the Cabinet of Ministers approved Raivis Kronbergs as Director of the State Chancellery. He has 15 years of experience in senior public administration posts, 10 of which R. Kronbergs spent as State Secretary at two ministries – the Ministry of Justice and then the Ministry of Agriculture – and he has also received several letters of appreciation and high honours for his work in public administration. R. Kronbergs will take up his new post on 12 August.
On 13 August the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Ģirts Krūmiņš, until now director of the Rural Support Service (LAD), as State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture (ZM). Ģ. Krūmiņš has worked at LAD since 2001 and had been LAD director since September 2019. Ģ. Krūmiņš holds a master's degree in economics, and since April 2022 he has also held the post of deputy chair of the council of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies.
On industry matters
On 13 August the government adopted amendments drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture to the regulations on forest regeneration, afforestation and plantation forests, in order to repeal the additional forest regeneration requirements that oblige a forest to be regenerated within three calendar years (using “improved” and “superior” category forest reproductive material) after felling in stands that have reached the diameter for final felling.
The amendments to the regulations (and consequently also the revised standard LVS 82:2024) stipulate that, when roundwood is measured, quality characteristics must be recorded in addition to the dimensions of the round timber, thereby ensuring a more comprehensive assessment. The term “roundwood measurement” now clearly covers price determination by both length and diameter. Quality characteristics, previously agreed only in contracts or by reference to standards, are now formally criteria for setting the price.
Data compiled a week after the storm show that in six LVM forest districts in the Zemgale region the storm broke and blew down trees amounting to some 70,000 cubic metres, mainly affecting the Dobele, Jelgava, Olaine and Tukums municipalities.
Geopolitical events and the economic situation bring to the fore on our agenda a responsibility not only for the welfare of our employees and their families, but for the growth of the whole national economy and for the security and peace of society.
In Riga's parks, significant damage was recorded at more than 50 sites out of a total of 145. Broken and partly broken trees and their branches are scattered right across Riga.
I live with the forest in my heart. The forest is my everyday life, my home and my work. Working in forestry you can not just earn a living, you can earn very well indeed, and it is a huge bonus that you do what you love and are well paid for it too.
The article drew criticism from the so-called activists who, used to the markedly negative stance of the public media towards the industry, were left dumbfounded...
On SIA Rīgas meži's long-term and medium-term development plans, the scope for diverse use of the forest resource, and the green course...
On developments in related industries
In the 12 years since the land credit programme was introduced, farmers taking up the opportunity it offers have acquired 59,840* ha of utilised agricultural land for agricultural production. By 30 June this year, 2,993 loans had been approved for a total of 162.5 million euros.
Peat substrate is irreplaceable in plant growing thanks to its ability to hold water and nutrients. One cubic metre of peat substrate can raise 7,500 young pine seedlings.
In total the farm currently manages 92 hectares of land, most of it under winter wheat and barley, while this autumn it plans to try sowing oilseed rape. The farmer notes that the grain purchase price has risen compared with last year, which is welcome news.
This apiary has 28 colonies in all; they have suffered badly but are slowly recovering. The beekeeper was convinced from the outset that the bees died because of insecticides.
On hunting
The 2024 waterfowl hunting season starts later – not on the second Saturday of August at 16.00, but on Wednesday 21 August. On public waters a single hunter may take no more than 10 waterfowl a day.
On 15 August this year the hunting season opens for roe does and kids (up to one year old), running until 30 November. Also on 15 August the season opens for red deer stags up to two years old, running until 31 March.
With the latest amendments to the Hunting Regulations, hunters will now have to replan August, because the waterfowl hunting season starts on 20 August – but... not this year.
On environmental matters
Large old trees are home to a variety of animal, plant and fungal species, and are also an important part of our cultural heritage and landscape value. The number of old trees is falling right across Europe, which has a negative effect on the future survival of the species that depend on this habitat.
In the first half of this year the Nature Conservation Agency (the agency) registered more than six hundred new veteran trees, and as a result the number of officially recorded veteran trees in Latvia has passed 15,000 for the first time.
We rarely get to see the corncrake, but we can certainly hear it. Corncrakes are still found in the Latvian countryside, yet their distribution depends greatly on the area of natural meadows and on proper meadow management.
A wild boar in Olaine has become a sensation among local residents. It not only wanders freely along the railway tracks and past the kindergarten, but also puts up with residents' attention and even with being touched.
On transport: the good days and the bad
Changes are coming to Latvia's regional bus routes – state-funded services are to be cut back, with greater emphasis on commercial services and demand-responsive transport.
On economic matters
The Ministry of Economics forecasts that the changing structure of the economy will increase demand for highly qualified labour, but reduce the number of jobs for low- and medium-qualified workers.
The turnover of data communications systems manufacturer SIA “Mikrotīkls” grew by 20.13% in 2023, reaching 401.6 million euros. At the same time, profit after tax rose to 100.05 million euros, 16.64% more than in 2022.
With AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) successfully delivering a large-scale information technology project, the geospatial information technology platform LVM GEO developed by LVM was rolled out in the first half of this year at Sweden's national property board, “Statens fastighetsverk”.
On the oddities I noticed over the summer
So although this is not about destroying any monument or plaque, I suspect that for part of society (including Latvians and non-Latvians loyal to Latvia) the renaming of streets and the dismantling of “symbols”, which has been going on for quite some time now, has become a little tiresome.
A crisis threatens the defence of the European Union's financial interests in Latvia...
The article gives a vivid (even grimly vivid) account of why ideas resembling Russia and its policies win approval among various groups in Europe and beyond. You need only find people who “burn” for a supposedly right idea while failing to see what is happening around them. For the participants in the conversation, the war close by and the hostile actions deliberately aimed at Europe are of little consequence; they hold that the enemy may act as it pleases, while Europeans must be unwaveringly “correct” even in a situation that is plainly directed against them... At the same time there is not a shred of interest in doing anything in the countries from which people are recruited to head for the EU border...
In truth this is about more than words; it is about a conception of the world in which there is an order created by God, a set number of animals and plants, each species with its own role, and human beings more or less able to understand it all. Unfortunately, this conception turns out to be problematic.
Current affairs in cartoons