Andris Rimicāns is interviewed by Māris Liopa, Chairman of the Forest Certification Council of Latvia, and Pauls Rēvelis, editor of zemeunvalsts.lv.

The well-known saying “one hand washes the other” is gradually evolving in Latvia into something else which, with a slight addition, would sound like this: “The right hand does not know what the left is doing, and neither the right nor the left knows of the other’s existence”. It is time for us to think about independence not only in terms of November 18th or May 4th, but in our actions. COVID-19 and the military hostilities happening nearby can be used as an excuse for many things (and, unfortunately, that is what happens), but these events clearly demonstrate serious flaws in long-term state thinking.

What is happening in Latvian forestry, as you see it while working?

The answer should include two parts – how I look at what is happening and how I should look at it. Speaking of how I should, there are again two options – the view of the sector “from the outside” and the view “while being on the inside”.

Forestry is the backbone of our country, without which we cannot survive. In my opinion, this should be the conviction of every inhabitant of Latvia. We cannot be independent without forestry. Many do not realise or grasp this. Right now, as crazy things are happening around us, I cannot accept that there are still people living in their own information bubble where they have no clue or sense of what is going on and the consequences it creates.

I have gas heating at home, and I truly listen with horror, thinking about what to expect in the autumn. Yes, there is talk and confidence – let’s build our own terminal! That would be one thing. Realistically-minded people who work with these things practically and daily say – that will take two years. Moreover, if the construction proceeds as quickly as possible, without braking or obstacles.

Greenwashing is a newly introduced term that better corresponds to the agitation of the public deliberately carried out by representatives of the extreme green sector, which is very reminiscent of similar activities in the neighbouring country where unimaginable things are seen on TV screens. We live in a country that has good conditions for agriculture and forestry. COVID-19 “took” two years from us, currently, there is a war going on nearby, yet at the same time, the raving about the voluntary (and stupid) potential reduction of the country’s economic potential continues to be maintained...

I would really like people to understand what a state is, who we are, and who and how creates the state. If we saw off the branch on which our independence rests... Energy independence is one of the foundations of the state; it is an opportunity to decide for ourselves – what we want and what we do. At the moment, this is very clearly visible.

Currently, there is a mixture of many concepts in circulation – people talk about green energy and talk about gas terminals; in fact, we would not need these terminals, we should be moving away from their construction and use – not staying on the same ship, but stepping onto another and heading in a different direction. At the state level, we are still trying to live in the old way. The Green Deal imposes certain obligations and duties on us that must be fulfilled...

The Green Deal, a good idea that has already managed to be overgrown with at least 13 different regulations – a huge volume of different, often contradictory requirements and prescriptions. By agreeing to everything, we are slowly approaching a devilish situation – slowly, slowly we are coming to the edge of a high cliff and are ready to jump...

Looking at it practically and personally – I tried to change things in my own home. You cannot get heating boilers – that is the situation in the market (if you think, for example, about a pellet or pyrolysis boiler). Pellets are a very good and also very affordable product, but their price, in my opinion, could be quite “unbearable” for households. In this regard, I am interested in why new pellet production facilities are not being built – as it turns out – there is a shortage of resources...

Absurd.

That is what we as a society have allowed!

“We” sounds very broad; the sector is fighting to the bitter end.

The sector is fighting, I completely agree, but the “average” Latvian resident often does not understand the situation and its importance. The consequences are visible, which worries me a lot, because the situation with energy and heat will affect every resident of Latvia! Everyone! This is not about furniture, which could also be in short supply, because you can use an older chair or table for a couple of years. If it is cold in homes and apartments... One of the basic bricks of Maslow’s pyramid is missing... How will the pyramid hold? It is a time when quick decisions are urgently needed... Of course, it will be very difficult to find a solution in city centres with gas heating. Elsewhere, it will have to be done.

If we look further into the future – what are our opportunities and what is our choice? If we consciously do not use our natural resources, which regenerate quite successfully, do not build roads, do not plant quality stands – what will our children receive? The fruits of today’s work will be reaped and used by our children.

For example, we have uncultivated corners of the forest or parts of forest massifs where there is no infrastructure, no roads, to carry out economic activity. What happens? We design, pay good money for the design, the road project is created, the moment comes when the project needs to be coordinated and then the “instrument” turns on, as I call it. It may happen once or twice and it can be considered a coincidence, but if such behaviour repeats and becomes systematic, the situation is clear and should be assessed differently.

We managed to carry out deforestation for road needs (5 m on one side and the other from an already existing forest road with low load-bearing capacity), we improved access to the property, we prepared for work and... we received an application for the creation of a micro-reserve. When we looked at the day and time when the “observations” for initiating the micro-reserve were made, they very precisely followed the time when we started the coordination.

Brutal sabotage!

I would say – treason!

Weakening the state. We too often forget that behind every decision there is a first and last name! Behind every single one! Such operators should be brought to light, and they have not the slightest connection to nature conservation. This is a disregard for the state’s interests.

Exactly! Now we are in a quite interesting situation – whether to write off a few tens of thousands of euros (wasted money), or stupidly leave a prepared, cleared route, where no one does anything; at the same time, we have unrealistic deadlines for carrying out the work, for example, there are micro-reserves where it is forbidden to move with mechanised vehicles.

We are implementing one project, despite everything. A contractor invested large funds in it. Grass must be sown on the slope along the entire length of the road route, but this can only be done in October... The grass does not sprout, the topsoil is washed away by melting snow and the “warranty repair” of the road arrives. For two years, the contractor “messed around”, then we continued – four years have passed, some grass is growing at the site, but... Is the invested time and money worth it?

Through the Looking-Glass...

The Jelgava Information Centre has another such object; in Kalsnava, the situation is identical. So there is an object where one has to think – whether to invest €200,000 in building one kilometre of road if we understand that we will not recover the money. Do nothing? Is that right? Clearly, one can act with the thought that someday something will change. When will that day come?

When will the understanding come – what is most important in the country? I will not express myself on the unacceptable situation – in order for us to act, a great many approvals are needed. In the case of a micro-reserve – there is a “bare” fact (without any approval) – and the micro-reserve exists! Full stop. We receive a notice...

I do not envy the company that purchased the timber from the road route trees; I truly hope they managed to... If one day you buy timber compliant with FSC certification, but do not manage to sell it in time, it might be too late.

It won’t sound exactly Latvian, but this attitude is contemptuous. One often gets the impression that the coordinators and acceptors of such decisions are not the reasonable part of our society, but live in Latvia with a specific task – to harm! As much as possible – to harm! The formal excuse, of course, is to hide behind the law and nature, although it is very clearly visible that this is not the case. The decision-makers do not care, because they will receive their salary in any case...

People have to pay double for many things – for example – for the construction of the forest road I described, which someone decided to stop, for the wood pellet prices that increased as a result of such actions, etc. Chain after chain pulls a whole train along. We look very carefully at where and what to do, not forgetting the grain of rationality. The costs of economic activity in places without developed infrastructure are much higher. Around the micro-reserves are young growth, mature forest, etc.

People have the impression that logging is taking place intensively, without thinking that we, I will emphasise again, rationally use all opportunities. Previously, there was a trend, noticeable to many, not to do logging by the roads. Why not? By the road, you can feel the impact of the road itself, and the roadside is an even more practical place compared to the far corner of some forest plot.

The Finns and Swedes have long calculated that the reinforcement of green requirements accordingly increases the load on managed forests. The problem in Latvia is the contradictory actions of the decision-makers, with one decision forbidding the ability to work, and during the discussion of the next decision, tearfully howling about the lack of funds...

Renewable resources are an issue that society should be educated about more and more. What are they? Solar energy – the sun shines on us as much as it shines, we cannot change that. Wind – here today, gone tomorrow, sometimes more, sometimes less. People are protesting against wind turbines anyway...

In Germany, they have been dealing with wind farms for a long time; I watched a good TV report about it. What to do with used turbines and blades? In Germany, they are lying around on the edges of fields, being piled up because there are no recycling options yet. When that will start, it is not yet clear, but what serious “greenness” are we talking about here?

Solar panels are not eternal and have a certain service life: a panel stops working, and the batteries “expire” even faster... Who and what will do anything with all that afterwards? The exhausted elements are placed somewhere, tucked away in a dark corner until spring cleaning comes. What then? Hope for mystical technologies that will develop.

I look at forestry clearly – we must live and use what we have! We must rely on ourselves and our resources, and we do not have to rely on aliens or resource importers who might deliver something one day. Every person who works and does it meaningfully strengthens the country. That is a contribution to the state and society.

Recently in the Ozolnieki area, there was an attempt to stir up trouble about the planned forest maintenance.

I know what it is about. The most important words here would be – communication, informing, and contact. As I already mentioned, we rationally calculate what to do with the resources entrusted to and available to us. We are responsible for our forests.

It happens that people appear who perceive possible changes (including forest maintenance or brush cutting) overly sharply. Having noticed some activities, perhaps not always understandable to them, this person “shoots in all directions from all barrels, while doing it all at once”. Having caused a noise, they disappear.

I understand the alarm in Ozolnieki – there is a well-trodden path through the forest, seventy-year-old pines grow on both sides of it, people see signs of marking, and panic begins. The public has been inadequately scared by logging work. The clearing will not affect the path, forest regeneration with quality seedlings is planned, after some time the 70-year-old pine will finish its public functions, remaining only for biological ones... Beside it, a healthy, young forest will already be growing. Here, both the interests of society (so that the forest grows here in the further future) and green ideas (a healthy forest absorbs CO2) have been taken into account. What does the current wall of hazel provide? It should be reminded that we in Latvia and especially in Zemgale have good, fertile land where the strongest wins... People still do not understand where and how beautiful pines seed and grow and where they are able to naturally regenerate. Under hazel bushes, pine regeneration will not happen.

I enquired about the public alarm at the houses next to us and the forest in “Iecavkrasti”, I spoke to them, nobody there knew anything about the situation and the worry. Those who were very interested came to the meeting to which we invited them. As I mentioned, we explained that something should be done about the “hazel wall” and the birches and aspens collapsed from old age.

Negative information about forest management is very one-sided and aggressive – it is the “good tone” – to roar that everything is being cut down.

In my opinion, it is always better to first come and talk and look at everything yourself. Communication is proceeding actively enough. We answer all questions, including the owner’s worries that a crooked tree is growing by their house that looks dangerous, or the worry that needles might fall into the gutters from the forest. Wait, there are 90-year-old pines in the forest; if you built the house in 2017, there were both forest and mature pines there, did you not see that?

The mentioned case in Ozolnieki, unfortunately, forced the State Forest Service, us, and the municipality to spend resources. We offered a time when we could meet with the people for whom forest maintenance was an existentially important issue; unfortunately, no one showed up.

That is not normal! If you start solving an issue, finish it!

I think that after our explanations, the chunk of sensation disappeared. There was nothing to worry about because the decisions were rational and understandable to everyone.

You come from the eastern part of Latvia, and your mother studied in the acting course of Ādolfs Šapiro, which is surrounded by truly grand stories. The acting course at the Youth Theatre, however, had a very short life.

Mother has dedicated herself to both us, the children, and society. When we were children, we were certainly jealous more than once of anyone to whom mother was ready to dedicate her time. When I was already studying at university, I invited my mother to finish the grand charity work. “In life, it all comes back,” she replied.

My relationship with theatre is now quite rare. During my university years, I was active in the student society “Šalkone”, which actively maintained cultural life in the student environment. Mother only recently led a theatre circle at school, where she has now finished her career. She is still close to theatre activities, her course still meets, and they have very good and even sincere relationships. I am happy for that and amazed.

Speaking about the border region and the different attitude of the people there towards the war and sources of information...

...I remember well when and how Latvian television broadcasts disappeared from the TV screens of the residents of the parishes on the Russian border. At that time, I was studying at the Kārsava City Gymnasium, we watched a television that still had Latvian channels. The so-called digitalisation time came and Latvian TV literally “cut us off”. Further, the situation developed very simply – the television antenna was turned by 45° or 90° and those channels that could be received were watched. At one point, we even had an antenna with a handle attached to the mast, which was turned in the necessary direction as needed.

In Latvia, TV became a paid service, but across the border, and what is more, for free, very rich content was broadcast. A simple person just needed that! Professionals work across the border. Here I want to emphasise one thing: if what I described is not understood by TV users (viewers), for those who decided on such a situation and its stabilisation near the Latvian border, the consequences should have been understood very clearly. That is why people have such a job and position. Now mouths are open – how is that, what will we do, how is that possible? Why didn’t you think earlier?