Some time ago, the then Minister of Agriculture made comments about things seen (or unseen) from his office window. He was ridiculed.
As the Saeima elections approach, ladies are stomping through Latvian forests and fields whose ideological foundation is militant ignorance. They, too, like to talk about what they see. They are not ridiculed, yet their own supporters want to elect them and keep them in the Latvian parliament.
Speaking of various types of activism and activities, it is hard to overlook a fact that continues to surprise, no matter how long-standing it is—namely, that activism and activities are excellent as such, but they neither require nor need essential things: wisdom, knowledge, understanding. Of course, who needs those if a wise voter will just spit on those stomping through the forests, because there is already enough stupidity in life.
In this regard, an important, overlooked process must be recalled. With the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, or the “great war”, much was said about how the neighbouring country and the wider public were being prepared and conditioned against Ukraine, Ukrainians, and almost anything located to the west of Russia.
If you don't mind the effort and look at the information still available, you will see that, for example, in 2016, 2018, and 2021, various films or programmes were produced in the neighbouring country in which a negative sentence or phrase about NATO, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, etc., appeared “coincidentally” and quite out of place; this has been happening for years and on a large scale. I admit it might be impossible to research all the offerings of the neighbouring country's TV and other media during this time, but... from time to time, when listening to information in our own – Latvian – media, you see strange similarities.
Of course, public relations methods are much the same all over the world; however, it is hard not to notice how persistently and purposefully those people, who have decided to consider themselves green-minded, have found the opportunity to feed misinformation to the wider public drop by drop. If you compare fervent war advocates and activists speaking out against our forestry sector, there is no difference. (It must be emphasised: activists are not fighting for nature conservation, but specifically against the forestry sector. For and against are not the same thing!) Having heard something, having listened to something, having been to a “knowledgeable person”, “if they are talking on the radio, then they are an authority” – and the result is ready.
Watch the film “The Latvian and his Forest” and think about what you know about the forest, when was the last time you were there, and from what sources do you draw information, even if you want or have promised to believe them? Are they sources friendly to Latvia and the people of Latvia?
Watch the film “The Latvian and his Forest”
The film was created by the association “Forest Certification Council of Latvia” in cooperation with Ansis Pūpols and the studio Nemelo.lv, with the support of the Forest Development Fund