In any other sector, this situation would be considered a conflict of interest, but not in nature conservation. Here, a limited circle of people has been distributing millions in European funds and mandatory Latvian state co-financing for years, and this is considered the norm. It was Jānis Ķuze who, on 30 July 2018, waded into private property in the Mazzalve parish of the Nereta municipality and discovered a nest there. He then personally provided the 'expert opinion on the necessity to establish a micro-reserve for the protection of the lesser spotted eagle's nesting site'. The owner, Ojārs Kampa, attempted to challenge the decision of the State Forest Service to create a reserve on his property, but in vain. And now, in this carefully tended family property, the most economically valuable forest has been condemned to rot. The area of the micro-reserve is five hectares, with a further 70 hectares in the buffer zone. Right now, the forest is at felling age. This means that the family's financial losses are estimated at approximately 60,000 euros. 'Our many years of work have been swept under the rug with a single decision,' the owner concludes bitterly. Now, in the restricted zone, he is permitted to collect only ten cubic metres of deadwood per year and claim a symbolic state compensation of 160 euros per hectare annually. And even that, the state does not pay regularly.