With Raivis Jekumsare in conversation with Māris Liopa, director of zemeunvalsts.lv, Latvia's portal for forestry and related industries, and Pauls Rēvelis, editor of zemeunvalsts.lv.
Professionals whose task is to look after municipal forests appeared relatively recently in Latvian municipalities that own forest land; you could say the position is still fairly new. How did you come to be responsible for the forests of Talsi Municipality?
I'd agree, the position was created relatively recently, and of course not every municipality has one. I've worked for Talsi Municipality for three years, since 2023. Some time before I started here, the municipality had commissioned a forest management plan, since there was no forestry specialist at the time. Once the plan was drawn up, the municipality began looking for a specialist. As it happened, this was right when I had just returned from working abroad; I applied for the post and became the forest specialist for Talsi Municipality.
As I mentioned, the “homework” had already been done, because on my first day the finished forest management plan was put on my desk: “Here, get started!” My first job was to go through it – the inventories, surveys, boundaries, forest trails, boundary markers and so on – and since at that point it all existed only on paper, it had to be checked on the ground. The management plan runs in two stages, two five-year periods, each with its own scheduled work and revenue forecasts, which naturally depend on timber prices at the time.
I familiarised myself with the plan and got to work, looking at which stands had reached felling age; for those we commissioned timber cruising and boundary marking, and put the felling rights out to auction (on the auction portal). As is well known, municipalities may sell their felling rights only through the electronic auction portal. The felling rights we've sold so far have gone well at auction, exceeding the forecast revenue.
Has it become clear how forest management in the municipality was handled before?
As far as I can judge, forest management had, in my view, come to a standstill for a while, something I've mentioned more than once in various conversations and meetings. This “pause” seems to have lasted around ten years – the timber resource was there, but for some time it wasn't being properly harvested.
In the management plan I noticed things I wanted to change. For example, in one forest property, felling was planned for one compartment, and then the following year in the compartment next door. That would mean having to plan timber landing sites and skid roads and their upkeep every single year, and, where needed, agreements with neighbouring landowners, which ultimately drives up costs and, in my view, isn't economically sound. So before felling work starts, I plan it so that we do as much as possible in a given forest in one go, surveying the whole property, so that we don't have to bring the harvesting machinery back there again the following year.
What was your background in forests and the forestry sector before this?
I studied in Jelgava and graduated from the Faculty of Forestry. I should add that back in my teenage years my family owned forest land, which we lost in the big 2008 crisis, but up until then my father and I managed it together, so I picked up solid practical skills. As I mentioned, I worked abroad for a while, and I was very lucky, because when I came back Talsi Municipality happened to be looking for a forest management specialist. A genuinely lucky break!
How much forest land does Talsi Municipality own?
About 900 hectares. I should add that not all of it counts as commercial forest land.
What's the situation with micro-reserves and other restrictions on economic activity?
In our work and management we follow everything recorded in the OZOLS system. Before starting felling operations we've had to contact the Nature Conservation Agency about work we're planning in a forest that contains an EU-protected forest habitat, where habitats of specially protected lichen species have been found. Their answer is that, in their view, felling isn't permissible in that compartment – we leave the habitats alone.
Of course nature has to be protected and cared for, but in my view it isn't quite right that the restriction gets “imposed” on the whole compartment. For example, in one of the municipality's commercial forests there are two compartments covering 5.81 ha in total, where 104-year-old birches and century-old spruces grow. A protected habitat has been designated there and economic activity isn't allowed, but... the bark beetle is already hard at work in those old grey spruces, and you have to wonder what will be left of them before too long.
In Latvia, restrictions on economic activity are like a curse that literally stops both municipalities and residents earning income from their own property... Local people who know the forest well can judge a situation far more accurately than a formal approach of “if this or that is there, we won't do anything there at all”.
In my view, this definitely calls for compromise, or a sensible agreement. Coming back to the example I gave: if we have 5.81 hectares of forest with 100-year-old spruces, and a protected lichen occurs in that compartment, it would help if an environmental specialist came out and pinpointed exactly where the lichen grows, so a proper buffer zone could be set around it – rather than, perhaps, restricting the whole compartment.
More than once, in heated discussions on these questions, it's been argued that the socio-economic impact of restrictions absolutely has to be taken into account. The usual answer is short – “we're only responsible for nature conservation” – which, at bottom, isn't right: if a decision restricts something, it has to be weighed and justified from every side.
A number of micro-reserves in Talsi Municipality's forests have been established for birds of prey; felling is permitted there for a couple of months a year, and we stick to the rules strictly. There was a case where we sold felling rights near Dundaga where a micro-reserve for the lesser spotted eagle applied, with felling allowed only in the winter months. It all worked out fine, and the work was finished on time.
Is the municipality's 900 hectares spread across the whole district?
The forests are, of course, spread across the whole district, in every parish. A great deal of land in the district is also managed by Latvijas valsts meži. Our own forests are most extensive in Balgale parish, with Valdgale parish in second place and Dundaga parish third.
Looking at the map and seeing all that green, you'd conclude that along the bay and the sea (Mazjūra and Dižjūra) the municipality owns very little forest land.
That's right, mostly those are state-owned forests. We do have some small forest properties in Kolka, but they're in the dune belt, close to the shore.
Speaking of forest wildlife – two or three years ago the people of Dundaga were pleased that there still weren't any bears in Kurzeme. Now there's official talk of at least two, one of them right near Dundaga.
As you said, it's officially known that two bears have been spotted in our area. One was caught on camera at a wildlife feeding site in Rude, and later, it seems, made its way to Vaide; the other bear (said to be a different animal) was seen this year near Neveja. Every so often you also hear reports of a bear spotted in Ances parish, in Ventspils Municipality. Given how large the forest areas are on our side, it's bound to make bears want to settle in and stay for good.
If a report comes in about a possible bear sighting, the State Forest Service's hunting inspector checks the area and gathers information, and passes that on to us as well. If predators are observed, we get that information too.
What about wolves?
There are wolves – sightings are recorded every year, and if the ‘grey ones’ turn up near houses, people report it. As far as I know, no officially recorded wolf damage has been registered in the district for last season, at least so far. There's a notice on the Talsi Municipality website asking people to report it if wolves appear near their homes.
I've spotted a wolf myself, near Valpene. There was an interesting incident out that way – felling was underway, a harvester was working, and the men were coming in to hand-saw the thicker trees. While the work was going on, four wolves turned up at the edge of the forest and watched the operation. The men told me they usually see plenty of forest animals, but in that particular forest it was only ever wolves. I reported what the forestry workers had seen to the hunters, but a few days later there was no trace of the wolves left.
Lynx...
Lynx are around too – from time to time I've come across tracks in the forest. The big cats' population has undoubtedly grown since the hunting ban.
From what you're describing, it sounds like you've built up a very good working relationship with colleagues in the forestry sector and with hunters.
Absolutely! When it comes to hunting, the municipality has hunting agreements in place with 40 hunting collectives, each covering a different number of land parcels. We lease the land at €0.50/ha, the agreements run for five years, and the collectives are very responsive. Our day-to-day contact usually comes up when I report wolves, or beavers, which the hunters then trap. Beavers are still a real problem.
Part of Talsi Municipality lies in the coastal zone with fairly dry forests – how does fire safety stand?
That's fully the responsibility of the State Forest Service and Latvijas valsts meži – the municipality doesn't own large enough continuous tracts to warrant special protective measures of its own.
What are the main tree species in the municipality's forests?
Birch is the dominant species; in Balgale parish, which I mentioned earlier, it's mainly broadleaves that grow. Closer to the sea, conifers take over – pine and spruce.
Middle-aged stands make up around 40%, pre-mature stands around 20%, mature stands around 30% and young stands around 10%. Young stands are noticeably fewer – during my time we've tended around 25 ha, and in 2025–2026 around 47 ha of new forest has been planted. We plant pine, spruce and birch as well.
On that note, I want to mention that we'd like to enter a scheme offered by the Rural Support Service for afforesting abandoned agricultural land. We're planning to start with 5 ha, a plot not far from Talsi. I recently took part in an afforestation event run by the company PATA, where their representatives talked about their experience with afforestation. I was interested in one particular situation – what to do with land covered in tall, thick grass, what the soil is like there, how suitable it is for planting. I learned what needs doing to prepare that kind of soil, and how. Very useful! So for the autumn tender on soil preparation ahead of planting, I'll add in this unused agricultural land as well, so the soil there gets prepared and furrows cut with disc ploughs too. We're planning to plant spruce and birch.
On the subject of abandoned agricultural land – if the 5 hectares you mentioned is the start, will there be more?
There will be! The municipality holds quite a lot of land – most of the agricultural land is, naturally, leased out to farmers, but there are odd corners and plots that have grown over with scrub. My guess is I'll choose scrubbed-over plots for further afforestation, which in turn will likely mean another tender for clearing the scrub.
Bureaucracy is still a very real problem in Latvia. In your role you have to follow a whole set of rules tied to forest management, on top of municipal regulations and environmental requirements. What would you definitely change?
For instance, there are specific jobs that ought to be done as quickly as possible, but can't be, because doing them means running a procurement and going through a lengthy procedure. Of course we follow that strictly too, but at times it would help if a number of jobs could be done faster. There have been cases where a parish reports that roadside verges need clearing – scrub, or even trees, have grown up, and there are big brush piles to remove. What happens next? A price enquiry, which someone has to respond to; if nobody does, you have to start over, while time keeps passing, and the trees and scrub have to be cleared regardless, so they don't get in the way of farmers moving heavy machinery along the rural roads.
In a case like that, presumably we're not talking about large sums of money
No, of course not. But bureaucracy is tied to almost every move, every action – forest tending, planting, soil preparation and so on – all of it needs a procurement run, which is a defined process, taking work and time, which in turn demands careful, timely planning so you can fit everything into the schedule. There's a pretty wild example I heard from a neighbouring municipality: the forest needs planting, the seedlings have been delivered and... out of nowhere, the planting contractor pulls out. Where and how do you quickly find a replacement? The seedlings can't just wait...
In my line of work, if something needs doing fast, it isn't easy. Of course you can and should always want more, but living in Latvia you have to remember that there's only as much money as there is. Worth mentioning here is a telling Latvian dilemma – if you do nothing, it'll be bad; if you act, it can also turn out bad. I wouldn't want the people sitting in state institutions to think that way.
Talsi Municipality is home to Slītere National Park
We have several forest properties within the park; all of them have large numbers of registered bird nests, and we carry out no economic activity there – these areas are a natural asset.
Where do you sit within the municipality's structure?
The municipality's Real Estate and Environmental Protection Department has two divisions – Real Estate, and Environmental Management, which is where I work. I have two environmental-specialist colleagues and one roads specialist. My colleagues have no shortage of work either, in what is now a much larger municipality following the administrative-territorial reform. As for my own area, I can say that when I took over the forestry records and documents from the former Dundaga Municipality, the person who'd been responsible for forests there deserves credit – everything was in the best possible order: felling had been carried out, new forest planted, young stands tended, and every forest property surveyed.
How is the municipality's 900 hectares broken down?
The largest single forest is 55 ha; it's hard to say about the smallest ones – they'll be nought point something hectares – the plots are fairly fragmented. There are 250 cadastral units in total. As for site visits, I've been out to most of the municipality's land; I try to go round, get out there and assess at least the compartments larger than 1 ha.
For example, there's a 0.2 ha plot of forest where the OZOLS system shows a protected habitat and a lesser spotted eagle reserve; no inventory has been done, the property hasn't been surveyed, and these processes are fairly costly... Is it worth doing, when it's purely an investment that will never pay for itself?
What's the situation with Kurzeme's legendary ungulates, the ones whose herds you hear all sorts of stories about?
I sit on Talsi Municipality's hunting coordination commission, where we periodically receive complaints about damage caused by ungulates. In spring the State Forest Service holds a working group to discuss game quotas. What can we do – write in asking for the ungulate cull quota to be raised, or at least kept unchanged, for the hunting collectives concerned. Some hunting collectives fill their initial quota, take out additional permits, and use those to the full as well. What happens after that? It's happened that the quota and the additional quota are both used up and... local farmers send us videos of large herds of deer, eighty animals strong, roaming the fields and carrying on doing damage. For farmers, and rapeseed growers especially, this is a sore subject – rapeseed is quite literally a magnet for ungulates. We've seen it ourselves – there's a municipal forest in Dundaga right next to a rapeseed field, and every spruce in that forest had been damaged.
Is there any cooperation with colleagues in other municipalities, and what does it look like?
I'd call it more of an exchange of ideas or information over the phone. I've had reason to be in touch with colleagues in Saldus, Ventspils, Kuldīga and Tukums municipalities. As you noted in your first question, there aren't many municipalities where a specific person is responsible for the forests they own. You can see that clearly on the e-auction website – the municipalities that take part in auctions regularly are the ones with forest management specialists. Saldus and Valmiera often bring their own felling rights to auction, and it's a great chance to talk these issues through with those colleagues.
From what you're saying, forest management in Talsi Municipality is clearly in good shape. You'll certainly have noticed that the State Audit Office recently reported on an audit of forest management across various municipalities. Talsi sounds like a very positive example.
I can't speak for every municipality, only for my own work and that of the colleagues I'm in touch with. For municipal forest properties, things are definitely moving in a positive direction. Overall, the State Audit Office's report was a useful signal to municipalities that it's worth bringing in forest specialists who can generate income from their forests and put potential forest properties in order. But I also remember an odd comment – for some reason the auditors seemed to think that felling the trees and hauling them to the landing would earn the municipality more than selling the felling rights at auction. I have a counter-question here: what happens if a harvesting contractor ends up in the red on a given felling site and doesn't get the projected volume of timber out? Of course there's always a chance the actual volume will differ from the estimate, which can work out either for the contractor or for the municipality. That's a risk that exists whenever felling rights are bought and sold at auction. Every felling site is valued by an independent, certified forest appraiser before it's sold. Every harvesting contractor has the chance to inspect the site before bidding on it. Some contractors say that if a site 'comes out' within 10%, that's fine; if the shortfall is around 20%, the site wasn't a success. In my view, the auction is a good and beneficial arrangement for municipalities.
Once the auction has closed and the winner is known, I meet them together with the forest manager; we try to inspect the auctioned area jointly, bring in the neighbour if needed, discuss everything and talk it through, so the situation is clear before work starts in the forest. I'm glad to say there haven't been any conflicts on that front.
How do you think Talsi Municipality is developing?
In my view, Talsi Municipality is moving forward, as far as it's within the municipality's power – new projects, roads and so on. I'd like to add that 40% of the funds raised from selling off a felling site goes to the town or parish in whose territory the site was auctioned, earmarked for improving transport infrastructure. A further 20% of the funds raised goes into the budget of the Real Estate and Environmental Protection Department, earmarked for putting real estate in order, including forestry work – everything from soil preparation to planting, and property surveying and inventories. Of course, we'd like it faster and more, but on the whole, everything is heading in the right direction!