The Riga City Council's Housing and Environment Committee supported several significant issues on Tuesday, 14 September, relating to the management of forests owned by the capital. Specifically, this concerns changing the zoning in areas managed by the municipal company Rīgas meži, which intends to reduce the area of clear-felling in the vicinity of the capital; the concept for the environmental education programme “Zaļā klase” (Green Classroom) was also approved, and a decision was taken to transfer several new areas into the company’s management.
“The vast forests around Riga have been increasingly fragmented by clear-felling over the last 20 years, threatening rare natural assets and recreational opportunities. For a municipal company, public interests and sustainability should be the priority. Therefore, we propose to significantly reduce forest harvesting so that mushroom picking, walking and other types of recreation are not lost. In my opinion, the forests around Riga, near which nearly a million people live, must be managed differently from remote forests without protected natural values,” emphasises the committee chair, Edmunds Cepurītis.
Changes to the Forest Management Plan
The committee approved the amendments to the 2017–2026 Forest Management Plan developed by SIA Rīgas meži. These provide for a significant reduction in timber harvesting volumes in the Riga and Pierīga forests starting from next year. The amendments have been made with the aim of increasing the protection, preservation and development of natural and recreational value in the forests owned by the municipality and managed by Rīgas meži.
In order to develop the amendments, forest areas with a concentration of natural and recreational values where logging will not take place were identified in the existing Forest Management Plan. During this process, biologically valuable forest stands and stands with recreational values were identified, which require in-depth research to determine whether economic activity in them should be partially or fully restricted. Finally, plots where timber harvesting will take place as planned have been defined. As a result, the impact of such zoning on the cutting plans for the coming financial years and on the company's revenue from timber products has been calculated.
By completely abandoning logging in areas to be preserved and partially reducing timber harvesting in areas where it must be performed with restrictions, the volume of timber harvesting will be reduced. This includes a projected reduction in timber harvesting volume of 35,000 m3 in 2022, which is 20% of the volume provided for in the current version, and a projected reduction of 46,000 m3 in 2023, which is 27% of the volume set in the current version.
Consequently, it can be predicted that the revenue of Rīgas meži will decrease by 2.1 million euros in 2022, and by 2.8 million euros in 2023. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the company's expenditure related to forestry work will also decrease.