24 years ago – on 28 October 1999 – the joint stock company “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) was founded. Over these years, the company has grown and developed, expanding its areas of operation and becoming one of the most significant state-owned companies in Latvia, which also makes a significant contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions in Latvia and mitigating climate change.
The result of LVM’s economic activity, while responsibly balancing economic, environmental and recreational interests, has also ensured stable and ever-increasing payments to the state budget in the form of taxes and dividends over the 24 years. Compared to the start of its operations, LVM’s turnover has increased more than 23-fold, from 24 million euros to 566 million euros last year. At the same time, since its inception, the company has paid 1.69 billion euros into state and municipal budgets. This year, LVM is the largest dividend payer in Latvia, having paid more than 162 million euros into state and municipal budgets.
In Latvia's state forests, the growing stock of timber is on the rise and currently reaches 324 million cubic metres. This confirms that the forest managed by the company is being managed responsibly and that the income derived from forest management is sustainable. Moreover, timber grown in Latvia and used in building construction also increases total CO₂ sequestration in Latvia, thereby mitigating climate change. Every year, as the forest grows, the timber stock increases by 11.3 million cubic metres, of which, in accordance with Cabinet of Ministers regulations, LVM harvests and supplies about 7 million cubic metres to wood processing and heating companies. In the forests managed by LVM, the timber stock is more than 10 times greater than the annual harvesting volume.
As they grew in 2022, Latvia’s state forests sequestered 12.2 million tonnes of CO₂. For comparison, Latvia’s fleet of light vehicles emitted 2.42 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2021 – growing forests neutralise 5 years of light vehicle CO₂ emissions in a single year.
“Twenty-four years of relentless work, change, development, unity and Latvian resilience. We look to the future through an updated draft of our corporate vision – to be a European leader in the forward-looking management and multiplication of natural capital, based on sustainable and efficient economic activity, sustainable management of the natural capital entrusted to the company and, of course, the improvement of the working environment by fostering a motivating and inclusive workplace.
At the same time, we are thinking about how to carry out the current volume of work with less labour consumption, in order to address the growing issue of labour shortages and the challenges of the global timber market. Here, better and more efficient work organisation, the government's planned reduction of bureaucracy and simplification of legislation, and the development of IT systems could all help us. The “Latvijas valsts meži” team will continue to work so that the forest industry remains a pride of the Latvian economy in the future, the backbone of development for every Latvian region, and an opportunity for every inhabitant of Latvia to enjoy recreation in nature,” explains Pēters Putniņš, Chairman of the LVM Board.
Since the company’s founding, forests have been regenerated over an area of 293 thousand hectares in Latvia’s state forests. During this time, forest roads with a total length of 8.3 thousand kilometres have been built, and forest drainage systems have been renovated over a total length of 283 thousand hectares. Furthermore, appreciating the desire of young people to gain practical training in nature, more than 155 thousand pupils and teachers have participated in annual forest environmental education programmes.
Forestry is the main area of LVM’s operation, yet the company is also developing other lines of business: it provides hunting and recreational services, produces selected seeds and seedlings for forest regeneration, manages subsoil resources by extracting mineral materials in 122 quarries, and develops geospatial data services.
To ensure high-quality and high-productivity forest seedlings for the future, LVM owns 10 forest nurseries with a total area of 434 hectares. Over 24 years, LVM has grown 885 million forest seedlings, which is more than 460 seedlings for every inhabitant of Latvia!
The geospatial information technology platform LVM GEO developed by LVM has become a significant geospatial solution in the country since its creation in 2012 – successfully used in various industries, the platform supports the management of more than 2 million hectares of land throughout Latvia.
Sustainable forest management today is no longer imaginable without the use of the latest technologies, which is why unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are being used increasingly in LVM's operations. Currently, more than 170 drones are used daily at LVM across 8 different structural units. Furthermore, becoming one of the most important suppliers of roundwood in the country, the company improved its wood product delivery process this year by introducing a latest-generation information technology solution for logistics optimisation.
Over the 24 years, there has been a significant increase in the amount of land the company manages with the primary goal of environmental protection: from 5% of the area in 2001 to more than 24% in 2022. LVM implements sustainable and balanced forest management, dedicating 23% of its managed land to natural processes, while ensuring maximum timber growth and carbon sequestration in the growing timber on the remaining forest area, while simultaneously promoting the increase of biodiversity in a balanced way. In 2022, as it grew, the forest sequestered 12.2 million tonnes of CO₂.
The majority of terrestrial Natura 2000 protected areas of European Union significance in Latvia are under the management of LVM, and their formation has been facilitated by the forest management practices implemented throughout the 20th century.
Along with three external co-funded environmental projects launched in 2021, LVM has taken on the leadership of methodological solutions for the management of habitats that depend on regular disturbances, advancing a modern approach to nature conservation. Modern nature conservation, or the new paradigm, involves protecting complex ecosystems by combining active management based on the ecological requirements of target habitats with the undisturbed progression of natural processes. In a total of 20 locations, 18 of which are in specially protected nature areas of Latvia and two in carefully selected demonstration areas, LVM carries out species habitat and biotopes restoration work, using nature-friendly forest management methods, the models for which are also being tested for future use in managing similar habitats elsewhere in Latvia and Europe.
Since 2021, the company has been actively working on three external co-funded environmental projects: LIFE GoodWater IP 2020-2027 “Implementation of River Basin Management Plans in Latvia towards Good Surface Water Status”, LIFE-IP LatViaNature 2021-2028 “Optimising the Governance and Management of Natura 2000 Protected Areas”, as well as the KHZ-SAM project 2021-2023 “Implementation of management measures in specially protected nature areas and micro-reserves to improve the conservation status of habitats and species”.
Society appreciates forest recreation opportunities – the forest is a place for walking, active leisure, mushroom picking, berry picking, and other activities. The company carries out forest maintenance on nearly 5% of its territory to ensure these leisure opportunities, and more than 300 free recreation areas have been created for Latvian residents and guests, balancing economic, social, and environmental interests.