To curb the damage caused by the eight-toothed bark beetle in spruce stands, a state of emergency has been declared in 230 parishes. The beetles have spread most extensively in areas of Vidzeme, followed by Latgale and Zemgale, where concerns have already been raised regarding how this situation and the new restrictions will impact the timber market.
“Several signs. One of them – small holes and weeping spruces. They are weeping for their fate,” is how Ivars Ikaunieks describes the first and most obvious signs of the bark beetle's presence. Both as the head of the Viļāni united administration and as an owner of private forest land, he has been battling this insect for at least three years. (...)