To reduce the administrative burden in the development of real estate, on Tuesday, 4 February, the government approved changes to the procedure for determining and paying deforestation compensation. To make working with real estate easier and quicker for forest owners who wish to change the land use type (to deforest land), a sketch prepared by a certified surveyor will no longer be required in order to determine the amount of deforestation compensation; instead, the sketch may be prepared by any specialist in accordance with the regulations on the felling of trees in forests.

Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze:

“As we continue to reduce the bureaucratic burden on businesses and people working in the agricultural sectors, we have also reduced the administrative costs this entails. By removing from the deforestation application both the sketch prepared by a certified surveyor and the obligation to mark out the area to be deforested on the ground, administrative costs will fall for around 1300 forest land owners or property developers in a single year.”

The amendments also reduce the time needed to receive the deforestation compensation calculation, as well as the flow of documents between the local authority and the State Forest Service, replacing it with communication in the Construction Information System. This provision will take effect from 1 January 2026.

The amount of information maintained in the State Forest Register on forest areas smaller than 0.5 hectares has been reduced. If it is expected that the forest area remaining on a single land unit after deforestation will be smaller than 0.5 ha, then in future the compensation will be calculated and the land use type changed for the entire forest area. An exception applies where the activity is carried out in a specially protected nature territory, in a protection zone for the protection of environmental and natural resources, or in a specially protected biotope registered in the Nature Data Management System, or where the remaining forest adjoins another forest area, as well as where an infrastructure facility is being established.

In cases where trees are to be retained on a part of the area to be deforested that is smaller than 0.5 ha, the compensation will be significantly reduced.

The regulations “Amendments to Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 889 of 18 December 2012, ‘Regulations on the criteria for determining deforestation compensation and the procedure for its calculation and payment’” come into force on the day following their publication in the official gazette “Latvijas Vēstnesis”.