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The research aims to examine the pace of growth of lodgepole pine, the amount of damage caused by biungulates and the quality of trunks for lodgepole pine provenances growing in the western part of Latvia in the areas around Ugale and Kuldiga, identifying the most damage-resistant and promising provenances for cultivation in Latvia. In Latvia, foresters and plant breeders have been working for years to increase the quality and productivity of local tree species, while assessing various forest stand management patt...

The research aims to identify changes in the biometric measurements and demographic structure of game ducks living on Lake Engure. Game management in Latvia as well as the entire Northern Europe is an important segment of the economy, which has rich and ancient traditions. Although a small segment of society perceives game management as the killing of animals, which is not the case, it should be understood that it represents an economic activity resulting in limiting the animal population, which can increase rapid...

Forests provide humanity with essential raw materials, and the demand for these materials is growing, especially in conditions where it is necessary to replace the use of fossil resources with renewable ones. Latvia-s import of timber from Russia and Belarus has increased 8 times in 2021, when comparing 2013, reaching 33% of timber import value. Current geopolitical situation and supply chain sustainability calls for necessity to evaluate possibility to reduce the dependency on the timber import from Russia and Be...

Forests are import to the health of the planet, as well as an economic resource of the country. Latvia has 5th highest forest area coverage in the European Union. Major tree species in Latvia are birch, pine and spruce, with the birch having one of the highest felling rates as % of end of year stock. Importance of the topic is that as Latvia, in the particular in exports of selected timber products, as softwood sawn timber, birch plywood, chipboards and pellets, are among one of the ten largest exporters in the wo...

The forest industry is an important sector of the economy of many countries, because the timber grown in it can be used for achieving various economic goals, including increasing added value and exports. However, the social functions of forestry: rural employment and the availability of forests, in the form of various ecosystem services, are also important to the public. Forests are home to various protected species, and forest biotopes, biotopes associated with forests as well as the biodiversity of forests play ...

Flow of water and thus access of oxygen to the roots of the trees is ensured by drainage system. Therefore these system had been established, mostly since 1960th and 70th in a third of the forest area of Latvia. It has boosted the overall increment of forests substantially. However, around the same time, also beavers had been reintroduced in territory of our country. Water flow is often stopped by beaver dams. The aim of our case study was to assess the impact of dam removal and ditch reconstruction on the increme...

The development of rural areas is important for the economy of any country. In Latvia, the development of rural areas depends on economic growth in the key industries for the rural areas ? agriculture and forestry. Accordingly, it is important to use the various support instruments of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for rural development, which include financial support not only for agriculture but also for forestry. Therefore, the overall aim of the present research is to assess the use o...

Forest value depends on multiple factors, as well as on prevailing market conditions. It is measured in natural units. The most popular approach in calculating the economic value of a forest is the discounted cash flow method. The most influential factor is an discount rate, since the value determination is based on the assumption that a forest life cycle is 120 years. Therefore, the overall aim of the present research is to evaluate an optimal discount rate for long-term forest management. The research showed tha...

Forest plays a multifaceted role, which is determined by its economic, ecological and social values; therefore, sustainable forestry development has to ensure a balanced use of all the values. For the first time in Latvia, the situation in hunting management was analysed, assessing the level of safety and traumatism. The research aim is to assess safety in the process of hunting and the real situation in Latvia. The research found that the most dangerous kinds of hunting were hound hunting and waterbird hunting du...

The research aim is to estimate the profit a forest owner can earn per full forest rotation cycle from forest stands of dominant coniferous species in Latvia, selling both the assortment of logs and biomass (BM) from final felling. The research analysed the situation in privately managed forests, composed of the coniferous species пїЅ Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) and Scots pine (Pinus syllvestris L.) пїЅ in different forest types in Latvia. The calculation of revenue from forest product sales took into account b...

The research aim is to identify a financial gain a forest owner can make from the management of a deciduous forest stand in Latvia provided that the stand is logged at the final (clear) felling age and the revenue is earned selling the wood as roundwood assortments and residue biomass or only as biomass (BM). The present research analysed the situation with forests owned by natural persons of the Republic of Latvia and identified the amounts of revenue a forest owner can earn growing deciduous пїЅ birch, black ald...