During the Soviet era, deciduous trees were planted in Mežaparks to commemorate various party congresses and state anniversaries. It was the fashion back then to plant small birch groves, lime trees, and oaks in honour of a political event, without considering how these deciduous trees would alter the forest floor.

By enriching the soil with leaves, it becomes dense and unsuitable for the growth of pines. There have always been countless pine cones in Mežaparks. When the wind blows, they fall, and the alley is covered in them. At the same time, new pine saplings rarely seeded and grew. Industry experts have concluded that there are signs that the forest could go to ruin. Furthermore, the deciduous trees that were planted there are not of high quality. They were sickly because they were not growing in suitable soil. In time, we could lose our Mežaparks forest. We will have neither these deciduous trees nor the beautiful pines.

The saddest part is that for these seventy years, the Riga administration had not found the money to manage the forest. Upon taking over the management, Rīgas meži considered that it was now our responsibility: to preserve this pride of Riga. That is why we developed a forest management plan, one section of which is the removal of deciduous trees and potentially sickly trees from the forest, opening up space for sunlight and providing an opportunity for the forest floor characteristic of a pine forest to regenerate.

People, not understanding why we act in this way, often come to us with reproaches: was it necessary to cut down that birch or that maple. This endless explaining takes a lot of time and energy. We meet in the forest, we talk, and we inform them about our plans. Some understand and trust us, but some stick to their own opinions. It is a pity that there is a tendency in society not to trust professionals.