An interview with Mārtiņš Līdums, Director of the “Kalsnava” Forest Research Station

Education must be friendly with reality. What does that mean?

The early 1990s were the initial years of national independence. That was a time when “no one owned anything”, what we call a time of change. There was “Silava”, there was the LLU Faculty of Forestry, both of which, figuratively speaking, were on the same poor-quality tracks at the time. With the movement having begun, the situation now – after more than a quarter of a century – is this: there is no doubt that the centre of forest science in Latvia is at “Silava” (the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”). “Silava”, to continue the figurative language, “has travelled far, its locomotive is moving so fast that smoke is billowing”. The faculty... is still back at the station, trying to nudge or shift the carriages. Of course, there have been objective reasons for this, yet it is terrible from the perspective of the sector's development! Today, as a Forest Research Station, we are trying to be a contact point for forest education, forest science and practical forestry. Since our governing bodies are “Silava” and LLU, we are also trying to contribute to strengthening the interaction between these two institutions.

What is the current prestige of the forest sector and the forestry profession in society?

I suspect that there are certain social groups or environments where a young person would want to hide the fact that they are a forester. “A girl in a green T-shirt won't want to talk to me when she finds out what I do”.

Perhaps I am exaggerating, but there were times when the three most important people in a parish were the schoolmaster, the priest and the forest ranger. Right now – “hunters are those who kill for fun, foresters are ready not only to cut and clear-cut, but even to shave the land clean and rip trees out by the roots for the sake of money”. I am talking about the formation of public attitude visible in the information space.

When I was a student, authorities worked and were active in the Faculty of Forestry. There were many personalities in the best sense of the word: “If He said so or believed so, that is the case, it is justified, it must be so!!!”. At the moment, I don't see anyone who has that kind of pull, whom one would want to emulate. There are no observable situations where, for example, a professor has prepared a well-founded, balanced, analytical article, and after its publication, it becomes clear to everyone – “If such an expert has said so, it must be true!”

A problem of the era?

We create the era! If it is considered that headline-style and headline-level information prevails in society, one must be able to or learn how to communicate within a 140-character limit! If you can do it, you will be listened to!

I suspect that personalities must be sought not only among foresters, but authorities (thought leaders) more broadly – in society! For example, I read “Sestdiena”, where an interview with entrepreneur Uldis Pīlēns was published. I think there are enough people in Latvia who consider him a thought leader. Pīlēns says: “We ourselves have messed a lot of things up by introducing an inefficient logging and agricultural system.” (“If we have now created an inefficient agricultural and logging model, where a large part is already starting to belong to the Scandinavians, we are to blame ourselves for playing into the dominance of historical justice.” Sestdiena, 4-10 January 2019, p. 11)

In essence, a pragmatically thinking person has been caught “by emotions”. That is – they don't delve into the question, but “it could be that way”… No one has come and said – “You are wrong, that’s not how it is!” He himself doesn't have the time to go to Roberts Strīpnieks, Inesis Boķis or Arnis Muižnieks and ask how it really is… Maybe we – the sector – should go to him? The lack of authorities and knowledgeable thought leaders is a problem that, if not solved, will make it hard to keep the cart moving!

Riga is the capital, where many things look different. How do they view the problems in the centre of Vidzeme, Kalsnava?

I suspect that not only in society, but also in the large companies of the sector, perhaps even the one I lead, people say – “They are logging! They are logging a lot! They are logging everywhere! They didn't use to log like that before – now it’s terrible…” A person hasn't delved into the fact that many things happen differently in forestry, that the turnover processes are faster – that is not important to the reader or listener. In the countryside, the information hums the same way: “Logging! Logging! Logging! The trees are being taken away, the log trucks are driving: logging!” As soon as it is about a forest in someone’s own property, the tune changes: “What? You can't log? It's my forest! What are you doing – I have children to educate, a farming business to subsidise, I need to buy fertiliser!”

There was a case in Zemgale that was quite widely talked about in Latvia. The Īle partisan bunker is located in the Dobele region, and the surrounding area is forested. Logging processes were taking their course nearby and further away, but… A local “green” activist thought it was necessary to protest energetically because, in her opinion, logging work in the forest masses near the bunker was not permissible. Some locals, the media and Saeima deputies got involved in the protests. The conclusion was – much ado about nothing! The beginning of the story, however, can be traced back about 10 years, when the aforementioned energetic guardian of nature found a nest on her property and called in an expert – a lesser spotted eagle! A micro-reserve was created around the eagle's nest, and the activist considered herself “green-as-green”… The eagle nested, the reserve existed. But – after the aforementioned protests, the lady had a need to cut down trees in her forest for timber, planning a selective cut. They refused! Nothing doing! It was a reserve territory. Now, statements were heard about green terror and what not! The English have a saying: “Not in my backyard.” That is – any activities I support can happen everywhere, just not on my property and in the territory that belongs to me! Reserves and restrictions are, in any measure, applicable to others, not me! The story is not pleasant, but it is typical. (You can read: “Environmental advocates and deputies do not find common ground in the conflict over tree cutting in Īle forest”, 8 February 2016; “A silly uproar around the Īle bunker”, 10 February 2016 and “I regret applying for a micro-reserve”, 17 August 2016)

How is the “Forest Research Station” doing as a company?

Economically, we feel good. In terms of forestry, too! We have funds for investments, we are fixing roads and drainage systems. We are prepared to create several drainage systems from scratch because not much new has been built since the 60s, which would also be interesting from a scientific point of view.

Forest breeding is also going in the “right direction”. For us, science is connected to practical forestry, if you can say: “science begins from the seedling in the clear-cut”. In recent years, we have established scientific plantations covering about 200 hectares.

What is planted in the clear-cuts?

Within the framework of forest tree species breeding programmes, the best are selected, and then the best of the best, and so on – until the time comes when the seedlings must be “gotten out” of the greenhouses and the so-called progeny testing takes place. Our breeding guru Arnis Gailis would know more precisely, but we look at which clone feels best in nature for at least 15 years. It is not the case that everything is perfect in the laboratory and in natural conditions as well. That is not a failure, that is a negative result of a study. Pine, spruce, birch – are at the basis of our work, also aspen and black alder, and there is also so-called adaptive forestry, where we work with larch, beech, red oak, common oak and lime, to evaluate the possibilities of forestry in the context of climate change. We are a service organisation that provides forest science and scientists with everything necessary to test hypotheses in practice. Figuratively speaking, scientific research forests are the largest laboratory in Latvia!

If you compare, we are or feel like caterpillars, cocooning, because we want to be butterflies. At one time, a political decision was made that the “Forest Research Station” would be under the auspices of the State Forest Service (VMD), justifiably believing at the time: that would be safest. In 2014, another political decision followed: realising that it was impossible to develop rapidly only under the auspices of a direct state administration institution, a public agency was founded, managed by LLU, “Silava” and the Ministry of Agriculture in the person of the Forest Department. Why am I telling you this? In the VMD days, there was a figure in the budget table (which was entered) from which one could not deviate left or right. What you have is what you have! You can only do specific things. In addition, our status “distorted” the forest service's budget, because when the VMD Director General went to the Saeima to ask for additional funds, they found in the Saeima: “Look, you have another two million, optimise them!”

The time when one could moan – “it's hard for everyone” – has passed. It is also time for the Forest Research Station to become a butterfly, as I mentioned before. We are trying to create a modern quality management system, where anyone could come and see what we are doing and how, how we work, starting from students and ending with interested parties. A public agency, which is our status, has nothing to hide! The operational model is more focused on the direction of practical forestry, moving closer to the private sector model. For us, one person is responsible for the forest in the relevant territory, not both a planner, a surveyor and a silviculturist, because the volume is not that huge. The person who works in the forest knows everything about it. If a student gets acquainted with the work and structure of the joint-stock company “Latvijas valsts meži”, that is great, but with knowledge only about LVM, an incomplete impression can arise of how forestry takes place in smaller companies and private forests.

How large are the state scientific research forest properties?

28,000 ha! They are divided into seven forest regions that “cover” almost all the geographical and climatic zones in the country. In Mežole near Smiltene, Taurene, Kalsnava, the Talsi hills, where foreign species also grow, Jelgava, Auce and Rucava.

A trail about 6 km long has been created in the Talsi hills, but we still don't know what to talk about there. I want it to be educational, not just for tourism walks! We want to be a unifier of education, science and practical forestry, but the demonstration processes are unfortunately in their infancy. We really want to tell and show what we are doing and what is being researched – “here is a properly thinned young stand, here this is happening, here are seven-year-old pines and so on”. We hope that scientists will create an opportunity to talk about their work with our help. We believe that it will be successful soon!