On 14 January 2020, the Senate of the Latvian Academy of Sciences awarded the Kaspars Bušs Prize in Forest Ecology and Forestry to Pēteris Zālītis, a leading researcher at the Latvian State Forest Research Institute 'Silava' and a habilitated doctor of forest sciences.

The Latvian Academy of Sciences established the Kaspars Bušs (1919-1988) Award in 2019 to commemorate the centenary of the outstanding Latvian forest scientist. Kaspars Bušs's scientific work was linked to the understanding of forest ecosystems, as well as the establishment of the theoretical foundations for the management and drainage of Latvian forests. Kaspars Bušs was a scientist with an amazing intuition for what was happening in the forest and a knack for explaining it clearly, emphasising unconventional, provocative ideas that often caused confusion among his colleagues and sharpened discussions. In other words, Kaspars Bušs saw the forest and the processes within it differently from what was taught in schools or universities, differently from what was generally accepted. This ability characterises him as an exceptionally talented researcher and a vivid personality. In honour of Kaspars Bušs's centenary, the Latvian State Forest Research Institute 'Silava' prepared and published the monograph 'The Heritage of Forest Scientist Kaspars Bušs' in 2019, which includes the scientist's most significant works.

Forest scientist Pēteris Zālītis was born in 1937 in Jaunpiebalga and studied at the Faculty of Forestry of the LUA (Latvia University of Agriculture). He has been working at the 'Silava' forest research institute since 1961, conducting independent research in forest hydrology, forestry, forest hydro-technical drainage and forest ecology. The results of P. Zālītis's 60 years of research work are compiled in more than 250 scientific publications, including several monographs: «Основы рационального лесоосушения в Латвийской ССР» (1983), 'Prerequisites for Forestry' (2006 and a reprint in 2017); 'Structure of Purposefully Created Stands' (2009), 'Forest and Water' (2012), 'Latvian Forest Typology and Its Origins' and 'Growth of Stands in Modernised Young Forests' (2017). The monographs set out findings on the laws of nature that regulate forest structure and the processes occurring within it, thereby forming the theoretical basis for forestry. The model of the forest ecosystem has been successfully used as the foundation for his work, bringing the forest's self-preservation to the forefront as a nature-determined primary task.

Pēteris Zālītis has gained many undisputed insights by analysing data from long-term stationary observations. A valuable source of information is the database of accumulated data formed by systematic measurements of stands, ground cover, forest soil and hydrological events since 1963, which are still ongoing. His discoveries regarding the paludification of Latvian forests in connection with Latvia's hydrological situation are unique and globally recognised, rejecting the idea that paludification is caused by precipitation exceeding evaporation. By using forest hydro-technical drainage as a large-scale active experiment in nature, models have been developed to characterise forest water management. The uniqueness of Pēteris Zālītis's research and findings is proven by the fact that the monograph 'Forestry Conditions' published in 2006 was reprinted in 2017 with the support of the forest sector, thus ensuring the book's availability even 10 or more years after the first edition.

Pēteris Zālītis has received many accolades for his successful scientific work, including certificates of merit from the forest sector, the LAS Eižens Ostvalds Prize in forest science, the forest sector's annual award 'Golden Cone' for lifetime achievement, and the Order of Recognition diploma for services to the Latvian state. Pēteris Zālītis was one of Kaspars Bušs's closest contemporaries and fellow scientists, and has made an invaluable contribution to the development of the forestry sector and forest science.