DATE: 30 October 2025
IN PERSON: Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Jelgava, Akadēmijas iela 11
CONFERENCE HOURS: 9.00 – 16.15, arrival and registration for the event – from 8:00
ONLINE: zemeunvalsts.lv, db.lv, konferences.db.lv
WORKING LANGUAGES: Latvian and English
PARTICIPATION: free of charge, with prior registration
REGISTRATION: https://konferences.db.lv/conferences/lmsp-konference/#registracija
CONTENT OF THE EVENT PROGRAMME:
- Forest and land resources – their mobilisation and use in the current situation
- Sustainability of the forest sector and related industries – scientific aspects and differing approaches
- Land use sectors and national security – experience and preconditions
- Ensuring public competence in matters of natural resource use – trends and solutions
Panel discussion topic: How should Latvia's land use sectors adapt to the new political and economic circumstances?
MOTTO OF THE EVENT: “Rebus sic stantibus” (a legal doctrine allowing that a contract may become inapplicable owing to a fundamental change of circumstances).
Programme
08.00 – 09.00 Registration and morning coffee
09.00 – 09.20 Opening of the conference
Dr. silv. Linards Sisenis, Vice-Rector for Finance of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
Dr. sc. ing. Andris Paeglītis, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
Māris Liopa, Chairman of the Forest Certification Council of Latvia, Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia on the sustainable management and use of forest resources
SESSION 1
Forest and land resources – their mobilisation and use in the current situation
09.20 – 09.40 Assessing the development potential of Latvia's forest sector and a billion for security
Uldis Biķis, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AS “Latvijas Finieris”
09.40 – 10.00 The land use sector – economic growth and national security
Uldis Ameriks, Chairman of the Board of SIA “Laflora”
10.00 – 10.20 The key condition for the development of the wood industry – planning the volume of available resources
Artūrs Bukonts, Executive Director of the Latvian Forest Industry Federation
10.20 – 10.40 Timber resource reserves and their availability for use in Latvijas valsts meži
Dr. silv. Dagnis Dubrovskis, Member of the Board of AS “Latvijas valsts meži”
SESSION 2
Sustainability of the forest sector and related industries – scientific aspects and differing approaches
10.40 – 11.00 Economic assessment of the potential for balanced development of Latvia's forest sector and development scenarios
M. Soc. Sc. Mārtiņš Danusēvičs, Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Latvia
11.00 – 11.20 From Pixels to Pines: How Remote Sensing is Transforming Forestry / From pixels to pines: how remote sensing technologies are changing forestry (presentation in English)
Dr. Meelis Seedre, Head of Forest and Carbon Markets, KappaZeta
11.20 – 11.40 “Life is Salaca” – harmonising the Water Framework Directive and the Habitats Directive
Mg. biol. Mārcis Saklaurs, Research Assistant at LVMI “Silava”
11.40 – 12.00 Forest resources and the potential for timber harvesting in Poland
Dr. hab. Mariusz Bembenek, researcher at Poznań University of Life Sciences (Poland)
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break
SESSION 3
Land use sectors and national security – experience and preconditions
13.00 – 13.20 Latvia's forest resources – the foundation of economic resilience in times of crisis
Dr. silv. Āris Jansons, Director of the Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia
13.20 – 13.40 Multifunctional aspects of forest management in the context of national security
Valdis Kalns, Head of the Real Estate Administration of AS “Latvijas valsts meži”
13.40 – 14.00 War. Forest. Sustainability
Jānis Švirksts, Member of the Board of “STEP UP Certification”
14.00 – 14.30 Coffee break
SESSION 4
Ensuring public competence in matters of natural resource use – trends and solutions
14.30 – 14.50 Exploring Wood Resources and Industry Capacity Alignment / Exploring wood resources and aligning industrial capacity (presentation in English)
Dr. Nicola Bozzolan, independent consultant, European Forest Institute
14.50 – 15.10 Biomass. Its use – the role in curbing the consumption of fossil resources
Ieva Medne, Deputy Head of Sector Policy and Planning Policy at the Latvian Biomass Association (LATbio)
15.10 – 15.30 Public demand for ecosystem services in nature. A 10-year comparison
Dr. silv. Līga Liepa, Associate Professor at the Institute of Forestry, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
15.30 – 16.00 PANEL DISCUSSION. How should Latvia's land use sectors adapt to the new political and economic circumstances?
Discussion moderator: Māris Ķirsons, journalist at the magazine “Dienas Bizness”
Discussion participants: representatives of industry and science
16.00 – 16.15 Closing remarks and thanks to the cooperation partners and the authors of the presentations
The management of the Forest Certification Council of Latvia
The conference is held with the financial support of the Forest Development Fund
