Articles > Country and people |
Nature and Environment in Latvia |
Author: Jolanta Bara, Latvian Institute 23.01.2006 |
We can definitely assert that everyone who has visited Latvia will never forget it - not ancient Riga, which has stood on the banks of the River Daugava for 800 years; not the white, sandy beaches; not the green forests; not the many rivers and lakes, hardly touched by civilisation. Latvia is a beautiful, green land with clean air, water, and soil; many tourists from abroad and many environmental experts say that the entire country is one huge nature park. |
Latvia's natural landscape differs from the jungles of Africa, the mountains of Nepal or the deserts of Australia; its beauty emerges from subtlety rather than extremes. It is the right place for tourists if you
In state forests (about half of all forests) and private forests, you may walk freely, pick berries or mushrooms; these forests are accessible by regular highways or country roads. For fishing you need a special license (for a modest fee), and for hunting you need a license for each animal to be hunted. Many country homes offer simple hospitality, but if you crave something more exotic, you can pitch a tent and build a campfire at specially designated places on the banks of rivers and lakes. Latvia has a long tradition of conservation: the first laws and regulations were promulgated in the 16th and 17th centuries. From that time until our own day conservation principles are followed in forestry, and there are definite restrictions on hunting. In the 19th century, various projects were undertaken to strengthen the dunes along the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga. At the beginning of the 20th century, forested areas with cultural, historical, or natural value were set aside and protected. The first nature reserve was established in 1912 at Moricsala (an island in Lake Usmas). Currently, Latvia has 4 nature reserves, 3 national parks containing reserves and restricted areas, 1 biosphere reserve, 211 restricted nature areas, 22 nature parks, and 6 protected landscape areas. Forests contain microreserves (sanctuaries) for rare species of animals (chiefly birds), plants, lichen, and mushrooms. Latvia's Red Book (Endangered Species List of Latvia), which was established in 1977, contains 112 plant species and 119 animal species; this catalogue of rare and endangered species is regularly examined and updated. More and more plants, animals, invertebrates, fungi and lichens are protected by national legislation. Latvia has ratified the international Washington, Bern, and Ramsare conventions. Considerable attention is still being devoted to nature conservancy, and that, combined with fortuitous circumstances, has yielded good results - Latvia is internationally acknowledged as a land with more biological diversity than most other European countries. Here one can find unpolluted rivers and lakes, which enclose forests and meadows, as well as secluded, sandy, clean beaches where one can meander for miles without seeing another human being or traces of civilisation. Among Latvia's greatest natural resources are its forests with more than 200-year-old pine trees, black alder mires, linden, oak and ash forests and forests on ravines and slopes which are home to rare species of plants and animals - black storks (Ciconia nigra); small, medium, sea, and cliff eagles; lady's slippers (Cypripedium calceolus), many rare lichens, mosses, insects, snails, etc. Fortunately, plant and animal species that are protected and rare in Europe because of intensive farming and environmental pollution are still commonly found in Latvia. Thus, we can still hear a frogs' choir on summer nights, spot a hedgehog in our garden, hear the call of the corncrake, or find the nest of a white stork atop a post, old chimney, or broken tree - all of these attest to the good quality of the environment in Latvia. We take their presence for granted, but even they can become extinct; in the rest of Europe they are already on the list of endangered species. |