A conversation with Andrejs Svilāns, Director General of the Nature Conservation Agency (a continuation of the publication from 2 March 2020)

Latvia has a similar problem with pine trees on the coast, where roses, hazel, and bird cherry are encroaching instead of trees…

General eutrophication can also be observed in coastal forests, and it is more pronounced closer to large, populated areas. It is not just about the dunes… just look at what is happening in the pine forests around Riga. Air pollution, of which the aforementioned nitrogen is a significant component, leads to the accumulation of organic matter in the undergrowth, creating favourable growing conditions for both local and invasive species. The upper horizons of groundwater are polluted (again, nitrogen and phosphorus). Not long ago, near Lake Jugla, I saw a pine forest that was impossible to walk through because the undergrowth was full of serviceberry… cluster after cluster! Also, rugosa roses, snowberry, the white spirea once planted in railway protection zones, Billard's spirea, Siberian peashrub… I must especially mention spireas, sorbaria, snowberries, and Japanese knotweed – species that do not form compact shrubs, but rather “push forward” with shoots, forming vast, dense stands! There is nothing under these thickets – just some “feeble” ground elder or reed canary grass clinging to life. That is all!

Bark beetles are one known scourge, but mild winters increase the risk of “getting something new and exotic from the south”. Once, someone asked me: “When can we expect a harvest of bananas?” … I replied that first we would “get” tropical fevers, malaria, and a lot more, and in the end, the bananas wouldn't even taste that good. We have already talked about forests and the “retreat” of the spruce to the north. If we look at agriculture: not so long ago, we experienced severe frosts in early May and June, while in Poland they had them in early July; no matter how warm the climate becomes, no matter how hot July gets, if extreme frosts appear, how much of a harvest will we actually grow…??? Instead of one crop, we will end up with none. There are cases where planted spruce trees freeze. If the situation with frosts continues, we will have to think about how, in farming, we “don't put all our eggs in one basket”...

Europe. Environmental requirements. Green deals, greenwashing, green influencers. Is it all becoming too extreme?

If we talk about influencers, they are on all fronts… and goodness knows where they are most active. I think that often it is presented rather tendentiously that the Nature Conservation Agency (DAP) are the bad guys, or conversely, that the foresters are the bad ones! Well, neither are bad!!!! Regarding nature conservation: first of all, there is a series of international conventions that Latvia has signed and committed to observing! One part is “self-signed”, the other is binding for us as an EU member state! A large amount of what we do in nature conservation is stipulated in these regulatory documents. By violating or failing to comply with them, we can end up in infringement proceedings and face fines. And it will not be these radicals paying them, but all taxpayers. Moreover, a penalty does not release one from the obligation to fulfil the commitments. Of course, we can argue about when and how to best balance nature conservation with economic interests.

How to deal with the quirks of the law? If we talk about invasive species, there are oddities: some regulatory documents were created at a time when the EU was in its formative stage (it did not stretch from northern Sweden and Finland to Portugal and Malta)! Now the EU covers 10 climate zones (from 2 to 11!) with enormous climatic differences! Water hyacinth is a huge disaster in the tropics, but here in Salaspils, it froze to death in the tropical hall of the orangery! This, of course, is a matter for regulatory documents: assessing the risk and defining at what point and to what extent we “manoeuvre” with each species!

When does an invasive species become local…

Yes, a good question: when do you start considering something invasive?! If something has travelled and established itself here from very distant regions, there are no doubts – it is invasive. But there are the so-called vicarious species – mutually very similar in North America and Eurasia, whose appearance in some cases is not so terrible, but in others, is a very serious problem. It is a question of how significant the impact is on local species and local habitats. Of course, one must also ask whether the resources required to eradicate an already widespread non-native species might not be greater than the damage caused by the species itself. Canadian waterweed, Himalayan balsam, and the aforementioned serviceberry grow in such quantities that their control is, most likely, no longer physically possible. Canadian waterweed, which is full of ditches, contributes to the erosion of the banks of shallow ditches; the plant forms something like underwater turf, which affects the direction of the current. I must admit, there is no point in fighting the waterweed anymore!

Giant hogweed – there is a long, so far rather unsuccessful experience with it. The methods for controlling invasive species are various – ploughing, regular mowing, herbicides… but… For example, on the southern coast of Lake Lubāns from Barkava to the lake itself… You cannot get through with a tractor, and if you use herbicides, everything except the hogweed will die. The Germans recommend broad-leaved trees for the fight against giant hogweed. Here, that would be the Norway maple, which provides deep shade. I assume that in wetter places, dense spruce plantings could also contribute. Of course, on old agricultural lands, the spruce will not be long-lived due to root rot, but they should manage to “conquer” the hogweed in time! What remains is then destroyed using other methods.

Another aspect in the context of invasive species is our subjective attitude. It is human nature to divide: bad – good, edible – inedible, pretty – ugly, valuable – useless. Hogweed stings – hogweed is bad. Lilacs smell – lilacs are good. Ask people if the common lilac should be eradicated. “What are you talking about!?” How could you eradicate it – it can be considered our national plant! What is a Latvian garden without a lilac? Everything is fine with the garden – let it grow! But where should a lilac grow, and where should it not! If we look at the lilac at the Daugava Museum on Dole Island on the dolomite outcrops, in the Bornsminde Manor park on the banks of the Lielupe, near the Venta Rapid (dolomite outcrops are the lilac's element!). We do not have many such habitats! There are a few very rare local species of cotoneaster in Latvia that the lilac simply “eats” with its root system! We can talk in a similar vein about the Siberian peashrub, which is, for the most part, completely harmless near houses, but on dolomite cliffs and other dry, calcareous places, it seeds itself and spreads where it shouldn't! At one time, at the National Botanic Garden, my colleague Daina Roze and I conducted a survey:

“Should a garden grow local or non-native species?”

The answer was one and only one: “Of course, local ones!”

Then we asked what a proper Latvian's garden should contain.

Let's see: dahlias (Central America), phlox (North America), peonies (SE Asia, S Europe), lilacs (S Europe), etc… So!?

On Latvia's bogs

One way is to look at a bog as a pile of peat. Another is to realise that bogs are very important not only as habitats for many specific species but also as regulators of the water cycle and climate. Raised bogs can absorb huge amounts of water, protecting us from floods, and release it slowly! In a hot, dry summer, a bog slowly feeds streams, and as the water evaporates, it favourably influences the microclimate, warming up and cooling down slowly. That is why it is important to work with exploited peatlands and return life to them. As far as I know, the scientists at “Silava” are currently working actively in this field so that the “growth” process of peat can recover, so that emissions decrease, and so that the bog can start a new life.

Of course, peat is a resource, but it must be remembered that it has formed over approximately twelve thousand years. One must count on the fact that it can be “scooped out” quite quickly. The demand for Latvian peat is quite high! From China to the arid and wealthy countries of the Middle East, as well as Western Europe. Europe has already exhausted its own peat reserves.

In Germany, as part of a small group of German dendrologists, we came across a bog of a few hundred square metres. As we approached, two cranes rose from the bog, and a collective, astonished “Ach, fantastisch!” rang out. A plant species specially protected in Germany was blooming in the bog – the marsh Labrador tea. Another “fantastisch!” followed. You should have seen the Germans running to photograph the blooming Labrador tea! When you see that, you understand and appreciate the wealth of Latvia's near-pristine nature.

Latvia's peat reserves are still large, but resources must be handled with foresight and reasonableness! We are well off because we practically no longer use peat as fuel! If we use it sensibly and “do not squander it for pennies abroad”, peat will remain a resource for a long time that should be saved for our own needs!

A pressing issue lately – protection areas (restrictions). What happens “afterwards”, when time passes and the forest collapses? No one talks about that… Who should react when a nesting bird disappears?

If the nest is no longer there, an application must be submitted to remove the protected status. In any case – as many protected areas as there are, there are that many different cases – that is how it should be. The black stork needs a special tree with specific branching and free space around it. If the habitat has “come to an end” (perished), it must be evaluated whether it has any purpose or future! If someone helped the tree or nest to fall – such actions must also be evaluated. It is often heard that a bird has not nested in a particular nest for a year or more. That is not a reason to liquidate a protection area – there are species that live in one place for a while, later move elsewhere, and then return! There are various explanations – one: just as a farmer changes the crops they grow, the bird moves to a place where depleted food reserves have replenished. Another option – over those few years, the parasites hiding in the nest have died off. By the way, for this reason, it is recommended to clean out old nest remains from bird boxes every spring.

Of course, the issue of compensation is important here. It can be looked at in different ways. Usually, the argument is – “I am growing this forest for my children or grandchildren, and…”. I accept this reasoning, but… where is the forest owner's guarantee that in 20 years' time, their children and grandchildren will be interested in the forest property – the way we imagine it? I know people who do nothing in their forest or act very sparingly, allowing the stand to develop naturally and waiting! Of course, (and this is important!) as long as they can afford it financially! Speculating on children's interests or judging their opinions in a twenty-year perspective is not always appropriate! Just like “pushing forward” a poor pensioner who won't be able to buy medicine because of the “greens”, even though, in reality, behind all this sometimes stand not actual forest owners, but only stock exchange speculators specialising in forests, whose real care and understanding of the forest is… very distant. Less pathos, gentlemen! Regarding compensation, of course, a middle ground must be sought and found. Recognising that property rights are not absolute and that the state's financial capabilities are what they are.

Currently, however, it turns out that the forest owner is financing what is supposedly in the public interest with the protection restriction…

Possibly, to some extent, yes, but one must look in the mirror and evaluate how society finances the forest owner's interests. I repeat, property rights are not absolute. We count on the fact that our neighbours and society as a whole respect our interests, while simultaneously expecting adequate behaviour from us. What if everyone could do what they wanted with their property… For example, a small stream flows through my property and I decide to build a small hydroelectric plant. You have a forest upstream that could become waterlogged? What is that to me? Oh, I see, if the forest owner doesn't want me to build a dam on my (!) land – let them compensate me for the lost income, and right now! Maybe I want to build a pig farm or a hazardous waste incinerator right under a neighbour's nose on the adjacent property, and if they don't let me, I demand that the forest owner compensates me for the millions I won't earn in the future… If there is a lot of speculation about everything we might earn, we can end up in senseless extremes!

In my practice, there was a case where a young person bought an old manor and unsuccessfully tried to convince me that I shouldn't see any monumental trees, habitats, or protected species in the manor park that could hinder him from building freely. A few months later, he called and desperately begged me to find “anything protected” in the adjacent plot, just so that the new neighbour couldn't build anything there. The attitude towards rare species and habitats can sometimes change very rapidly…

Long experience at the botanic garden. Three trees closest to my heart

Well, one's own children are always the favourite ones! Last year, in the countryside, for the first time, my Turkish hazel trees produced fruit, grown from nuts I collected by hand in Munich in 1993. The squirrels in the famous English Garden, used to visitors, were very unhappy about the appearance of a competitor – jumping in a semicircle 4–5 metres from the hazel tree, chattering angrily, they certainly wished me the worst that day!

White fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), in Latvian conditions, more of a shrub. Beautiful, hardy, fragrant. Unruly! Seed stratification takes 2 years, shoots lignify quickly, it cannot be propagated by cuttings, it can be grafted onto common ash rootstock, which exists in only a few specimens in Latvia and has poor hardiness. But at least the fringe tree has started to produce viable seeds…

The “Eagle's Nest” variety created from a witch's broom on a common pine. The main thing here is the story. In the early 90s, a fellow student, Māris Ozoliņš, told me that there was a large witch's broom on a pine tree in Ogre, which the locals had nicknamed the “Eagle's Nest”. A week earlier, the broom had broken off in the wet snow. We arrived, and I was shocked – it was likely too late – it had been burned in a bonfire along with other broken branches! However, in the place where it had fallen, we found a few broken twigs. In the hope that they hadn't dried out, we sent them to our colleagues at the “Kalsnava” Forest Research Station for grafting. The grown specimens can currently be viewed in all their glory in the LVM Kalsnava Arboretum!

(Photographs by Andrejs Svilāns used)