Rita Benta's first place of work was the Zvirgzde forestry district, and her first mentors were forest rangers. Proper, solid men. From them, she learned to understand not only what was written in textbooks but also what happens in the forest. And how to justify her opinion as to why she did what she did, and why it is the right thing to do.

That is proving very useful today as well. Rita emphasises: “I would never consciously write any regulation that would harm the forest. It is impossible because I see all the connections. As soon as Covid started, I took my grandchildren to the Dzelzāmurs forest so they could run about, and I was able to observe how trees planted almost forty years ago have grown. I have grown at one with nature.”