Similar to other European States, Latvia’s forestry is sustainable. This means that forests in Latvia are not diminishing and they are not losing their value. A sustainable forest management means taking account of balanced economic, environmental and social interests. The last two conditions are possible almost without human interference, but economic benefits can be ensured only by a regular timber production and processing into products with a possibly higher added value. Therefore, in Latvia, emphasis is on growing of maximum quality logs that takes time – in major part of Latvia’s forests, the forestry cycle takes 70 – 100 years. In this period, several thousand professionally educated specialists are getting involved in forest growing process all over Latvia. In Latvia, as compared with other EU Member States, there are more regulatory acts and provisions governing the sector therefore, in Latvia forestry is more conservative than, for example, in Sweden, Finland or Germany.
Source: Joint stock company „Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) (Latvian State Forests)