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JSC “Latvia's State Forests” has been Managing State Forests Already for 24 Years

JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) was founded 24 years ago – on 28 October 1999. During these years, the company has grown and developed, expanding its scope of activities and becoming one of the most important companies owned by the Latvian state, which also makes a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions in Latvia and mitigating climate change.

The result of LVM's economic activity, responsibly balancing economic, environmental and recreational interests, has also ensured stable and growing payments to the State budget in the form of taxes and dividends over a period of 24 years. Compared to the beginning of operation, LVM's turnover has increased more than 23 times from 24 million euros, reaching 566 million euros last year.​ At the same time, the company has contributed 1.69 billion euros to the State and local government budgets since its foundation. This year, LVM is the largest dividend payer in Latvia, paying more than 162 million euros to the State and local government budgets.

The stock of wood in Latvia's State forests is increasing and currently reaches 324 million cubic metres.​ This confirms that the forest managed by the company is managed responsibly and that the income from forest management is sustainable. Moreover, the wood growing in Latvia, which is used in the construction of buildings, also increases the total absorption of CO2 in Latvia, thus mitigating climate change. Every year, as the forest grows, the stock of wood increases by 11.3 million cubic metres, of which, in accordance with the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, LVM cuts and delivers around 7 million cubic metres to wood processing and heat supply companies. In forests managed by LVM, the accumulation of wood is more than 10 times greater than the annual felling volume.

Latvia's State forests attracted 12.2 million tonnes of CO2 as they grow in 2022. For comparison: the Latvian passenger car fleet emitted 2.42 million tonnes of CO2 in 2021 – growing forests neutralize the CO2 emissions generated by 5 years of passenger cars during the year.

“Twenty-four years of relentless work, change, development, togetherness, and Latvian tenacity. We look to the future through an updated vision project of the company – a European leader in far-sighted management and increase of natural capital, whose operation is based on sustainable and efficient economic activity, sustainable management of the natural capital transferred to the company and, of course, improvement of the work environment, strengthening a motivating and inclusive work environment.

At the same time, we are thinking about how to accomplish the current volume of work with less manpower consumption to address the ever-increasing labour issue and the challenges of the global wood market. ​Here, we could benefit from a better and more efficient work organization, as well as the reduction of bureaucratization planned by the government and the simplification of legislation, as well as the development of IT systems. The LVM team will continue to work so that the forest sector will be the pride of Latvia's economy in the future as well, the backbone of the development of every Latvian region, the opportunity for every Latvian resident to experience recreation in nature,” says Pēters Putniņš, Chairman of the Board of LVM.

Since the establishment of the company, 293 thousand hectares of forests have been restored in the State forests of Latvia. During this time, forest roads with a total length of 8.3 thousand kilometres were built and forest drainage systems with a total length of 283 thousand hectares were restored. In turn, observing the desire of young people to gain practical lessons in nature, more than 155 thousand students and teachers have participated in the annual forest environment education programmes.

Forestry is the main area of activity of LVM; however, the company also develops other types of activity such as provides hunting and recreation services, obtains selected seeds and seedlings for reforestation, manages underground resources by extracting mineral materials in 122 quarries, and develops geospatial data services.

To ensure high-quality and high-yielding future forest seedlings, LVM owns 10 nurseries with a total area of 434 hectares. Over the course of 24 years, LVM has grown 885 million forest seedlings, which is more than 460 seedlings for every resident of Latvia.

The geospatial information technology platform LVM GEO developed by LVM has become an important geospatial solution in the country since its creation in 2012 – successfully used in various industries, more than 2 million hectares of land are managed throughout Latvia with the support of the platform.

Today, sustainable forest management is unimaginable without the use of the latest technologies – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are increasingly used in the operations of LVM. Currently, more than 170 drones in 8 different structural units are used daily at LVM. Also, becoming one of the most important suppliers of round wood in the country, this year the company improved the supply process of wood products by introducing the latest generation information technology solution for logistics optimization.

Over the course of 24 years, the number of areas managed by the company with the main goal of environmental protection has increased significantly: from 5 % of the area in 2001 to more than 24 % in 2022. LVM implements sustainable and balanced forest management, allocating 23 % of the managed land for natural processes, ensuring maximum growth of wood and carbon sequestration in the growing wood in the rest of the forest area, while at the same time promoting the increase of natural diversity in a balanced manner. In 2022, the forest attracted 12.2 million tonnes of CO2 as it grows.

The majority of the terrestrial Natura 2000 specially protected natural areas of European Union importance in Latvia are under the management of LVM, their formation was facilitated by the implemented forest management in the course of the 20th century.

Along with three externally co-financed environmental projects, the implementation of which began in 2021, LVM has undertaken the management of methodical solutions for the management of habitats dependent on regular disturbances, advancing the modern approach to nature protection. Modern nature protection, or the new paradigm, provides for the protection of complex ecosystems, combining active management based on the ecological requirements of target habitats with undisturbed natural processes. In a total of 20 locations, of which 18 are in Latvia's specially protected nature areas and two carefully selected demonstration areas, LVM carries out species habitats and habitat restoration works using nature-friendly forest management methods, the models of which are also tested for their future use in the management of similar habitats elsewhere in Latvia and Europe.

Since 2021, the company has been actively working on three externally co-financed environmental projects: “LIFE GoodWater IP 2020 2027” – implementation of management plans for Latvian river basins to achieve good surface water status; “LIFE IP LatViaNature 2021-2028” – optimization of management and management of Natura 2000 protected areas; as well as KHZ-SAM project for 2021-2023 – implementation of management measures in specially protected nature in territories and micro-reserves to improve the state of protection of habitats and species.

People highly value the opportunities for recreation in forest – forest is a place for walks, active recreation, picking mushrooms, picking berries and other activities. The company carries out forest maintenance on 5 % of the territory, which provides these recreational opportunities, and more than 300 free recreational spots have also been created for Latvian residents and guests, balancing economic, social and environmental interests.