To reduce the administrative burden on landowners, businesses and municipalities and to simplify the tree-felling procedure, the government approved amendments to the regulations on felling trees outside forests on Tuesday, 18 August. The changes will reduce the number of cases requiring a municipal permit, while retaining protection for particularly valuable trees and the habitats of protected species.

Going forward, trees with a stump diameter of no more than 30 centimetres, or a circumference of 94 centimetres, may be felled without a municipal permit. Whether a permit is required to fell a tree will be determined not only by its size but also by its species, growing location and protection status. Municipalities will also be able to set stricter requirements for tree preservation.

A permit will also not be required in several other cases. For example, trees may be felled without one in residential development areas, excluding multi-apartment building developments, provided the municipality has not set requirements for tree preservation. Trees on land registered in the cadastre as agricultural land may also be felled without a permit, with the exception of trees above a set size.

Felling dead and hazardous trees will also be simpler. Before felling, the tree must be photographed from at least three viewpoints and the municipality informed. The photographs must clearly show that the tree is dead or that damage to it poses a threat to infrastructure, human health, life or property.

There will also be less bureaucracy in construction – if felling trees is necessary for a construction project, it can be assessed together with the construction documentation, without requiring a separate felling permit. A tree felled during construction can also be compensated for by planting at least three new trees, no younger than 10 years old, on the same land parcel. In such cases, a municipal permit will not be required, provided the tree being felled is not subject to special nature conservation requirements.

A tree-felling permit issued by a municipality will be valid for two years. If a municipality refuses to issue a permit, it will have to justify the significance of the specific tree and explain why it cannot be replaced by planting another tree. At the same time, requirements for protecting specially protected natural values will be retained. A permit from the Nature Conservation Agency will still be required, for example, to fell veteran trees or trees growing in protected avenues and dendrological plantings, as well as when a tree is registered as the habitat of a specially protected species.

The amendments to the “Regulations on Felling Trees Outside Forests” will enter into force on the day following their publication in the official gazette “Latvijas Vēstnesis”.