To give coastal birds undisturbed nesting conditions, Dabas aizsardzības pārvalde (the agency) is closing the Ķikans, Irbe and Lūžņa river mouths in northern Kurzeme to visitors from 1 April to 1 August. During this period local residents, holidaymakers, boaters, pet owners and anglers should choose other stretches of coast for relaxing and walking on the beach.

The Ķikans river mouth lies within Slītere National Park. A roughly 600 m stretch of beach and dunes to the west of the river mouth is closed to visitors; people may move along this stretch only right at the water's edge, without lingering unnecessarily and keeping dogs on a short lead. The Irbe and Lūžņa river mouths are closed completely. At the Irbe river mouth, which lies in the “Ovīši” nature reserve in Ventspils municipality, a roughly 1.4 km strip of shore and dune between the left bank of the Irbe and the sea is closed; at the Lūžņa river mouth it is a roughly 550 m stretch of beach and dunes to the west of the river mouth. Both closed areas can easily be bypassed using the adjacent Jūrtaka route. Information signs and boards on site also indicate the movement restrictions at the river mouths.

“Birds nesting along the coast are an inseparable part of Latvia's natural diversity. In the past, when the shore was an area of restricted access, birds occupied wide stretches of coastline. They stopped staying and nesting on the shore when holidaymakers and residents with their pets began to use the coastal zone widely and intensively. Closing the three river mouths is a compromise that allows the birds to return to these places now. That is precisely why we ask people to understand the purpose of fencing off the river mouths for a few months, to walk around them, not to linger near them unnecessarily and to keep their pets on a short lead close to the barriers. These are essential conditions for the birds to return, so we once again ask people to observe them,” urges Dace Sāmīte, head of the agency's Kurzeme regional administration.

Terns and plovers make their nests, little more than a scrape, in the sand of the shore. The nest and the clutch often blend in completely with their surroundings, so the human eye passes them by unnoticed. River mouths are particularly important for birds nesting on the sea coast, because the shore there is usually wider and already partly separated from the land side by water.

Research shows that birds nesting on the shore perceive people nearby as a threat. During the nesting season, when a person approaches their nests, adult birds may abandon them. Later, once the chicks have hatched and left the nest to follow the parents that feed and watch over them, the presence of people can cause the chicks to flee and become separated from their parents. Even more critical is the presence of pets on the shore, since dogs pick up the scent of and spot both nests and birds. On sensing a dog on the shore, adult birds abandon their nests, exposing eggs or chicks to the risk of death, as flightless chicks become easy prey.

The little tern, which nests on the coast, is currently critically endangered in Latvia. In the 1980s the Irbe river mouth was an important nesting site for this bird in Latvia and across Europe, but unfortunately the species has now abandoned its former territories because of human disturbance; it no longer lays eggs or raises chicks there, and as a result the population is shrinking. Fewer than 100 pairs now nest in Latvia. Since the sand of the shore is these birds' only home and nesting place, closing these particular river mouths is vital to the survival of the species. By ensuring undisturbed nesting conditions in these areas, in time they may attract not only the little tern but also coastal nesters such as the little ringed plover and the ringed plover, the common tern and the Arctic tern, and the oystercatcher.

This is the fourth year in a row that the northern Kurzeme river mouths have been closed during the coastal bird nesting season. Even in the first years, individual pairs of birds could be seen visiting, feeding and exploring the fenced-off river mouth areas. It may be that this year too they will not yet be seen nesting at these river mouths, because little terns first have to regain their trust in these areas as good, quiet places to nest.

In previous years the agency's inspectors regularly surveyed the fenced-off river mouths. Thanks to public understanding and a willingness to support the restoration of natural diversity, deliberate breaches of the ban were recorded only in isolated cases.