The government approved the amendments to the Forest Law prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture (ZM) on Tuesday, 6 June.

The purpose of the draft law is to remove from the Forest Law the regulation concerning the declaration of an emergency situation for limiting the mass spread of forest pests and the propagation of diseases, replacing it with a decision by the Director General of the State Forest Service (VMD) to determine situations involving the mass spread of forest pests or the propagation of diseases.

The draft law has been prepared to improve the regulatory framework and to determine that the VMD may take decisions on the implementation of measures to prevent potential adverse consequences for forests caused by the spread of plant-damaging organisms, based on the monitoring results of the Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava". This is necessary to react quickly to the risk of mass infestation of forest pests or the spread of diseases, and to enable the VMD to administer the obligations set out in the Forest Law for forest owners to carry out activities that reduce the likelihood of forest damage and limit its spread:

• by ordering the suspension or postponement of tree felling, except for felling to eliminate the consequences of mass forest pest infestation or disease spread,
• implementing measures to combat pests and diseases or limit their spread,
• as well as destroying forest reproductive material infected with diseases or infested with pests.

In the future, the Director General of the VMD, in accordance with the procedure determined by the Cabinet of Ministers, will decide on the situation of mass forest pest infestation or disease spread, the territory of the spread, the measures to limit the spread of pests or diseases, as well as the period for which the situation of mass forest pest infestation or disease spread needs to be declared. The amendments will ensure more effective and faster implementation of forest protection measures for combating and limiting forest pests and diseases.

Until 30 June of this year, an emergency situation has been declared in 32 Latvian municipalities to prevent the threat of disaster related to the proliferation of a plant-harmful organism – the spruce bark beetle, and restrictions on economic activity and protection measures have been set for valuable spruce forest stands and their buffer zones within the emergency area.

The draft law “Amendments to the Forest Law” still needs to be approved by the Saeima.