In October, AS “Latvijas valsts meži” will begin work in the forests on the outskirts of Daugavpils to restore an exceptionally rare habitat of European Union importance – open inland dunes. Across the whole country, this habitat has been recorded on just 48 hectares.

In the assessment of environmental experts, the quality of the habitat is poor, because the dunes have become significantly overgrown with pines and broadleaved trees. To raise the quality of the habitat and thereby also improve living conditions for the various rare, specially protected species associated with this particular habitat, most of the pines and shrubs will be removed from the work area, creating broad, open patches for the sun to shine on.

In the course of the work, small pines that cast no shade will be left standing, along with pines and groups of pines that are not fast-growing but rather serve as landscape features, and pines with low branches that are blown by the wind and provide shelter for various animals. In total, the work will cover an area of 22 hectares.

Smaller and thinner trees will be pulled out by forestry machinery fitted with a felling head, larger trees will be cut by a medium-sized harvester, and the smallest shoots will be mown with brushcutters. The work is expected to take at least a month.

As open dune areas become overgrown, the amount of nutrients and the degree of shading increase, a thick layer of litter forms, mosses grow in the damper spots, and the open, sunlit sandy patches that are characteristic of this rare habitat and needed by a variety of species disappear. At present there are too few such patches in the area.

For example, for the red-winged grasshopper, or rattle grasshopper, open patches are essential for attracting the opposite sex. To attract a female's attention, the male leaps up, making a sound and spreading its red wings. Only in the open can the female notice this display. This is an exceptionally rare and endangered species in Latvia.

By improving the quality of the habitat, it can be expected that the sands and heaths on the outskirts of Daugavpils will also be more widely inhabited by the great banded grayling, since Daugavpils is where Latvia's only known site of this butterfly species has been recorded. The great banded grayling feeds on grasses and depends particularly on sun and warmth, as the species is more associated with southern and mountainous regions.

The tawny pipit, meanwhile, is a fairly rare breeding bird species in Latvia, with its population estimated at between 75 and 130 pairs. This species, too, needs open dune or sandy areas.

To maintain the results of the work carried out, habitat management measures are also planned in this area in the future, mowing shoots and reducing excess growth.