04 • 03 • 2016
Following the animal tracks on the environment day
Nature teaches; therefore it is particularly important to watch, observe and explore it with your own eyes. And this is also the aim of the environmental activities organised by JSC "Latvia's State Forests" (LVM) to allow the participants to explore, touch and understand the laws of nature. At the end of February, within the framework of the Environment Day events, participants had an opportunity to head for a forest expedition and together with LVM environmental expert Uģis Bergmanis search and study the traces left in the snow by forest animals.
"Uģis Bergmanis is a fantastically enthusiastic personality, who, I believe, knows everything about the forest and, moreover, possesses the valuable skill to pass on his knowledge to listeners in a very comprehensible and exciting manner. In my opinion, what he says is easily understood both by primary school and secondary school students," says Evita Valdberga, a biology teacher at Pļaviņas County Gymnasium, and finalist of this year's Excellence Awards, who highly values the opportunity to teach her students in nature. Practical exercises help to attract the interest of young people on processes taking place in nature, and allow to take a break form the daily routine, including the modern technologies which often make us forget to take a look around.
Also Emīls, another participant of the Environment Day, the winner of the Mother Nature twitter contest and former student of the Forest Faculty of Latvia University of Agriculture, once had acquired professional knowledge about the forest and forest management. Also in his free time he likes to go for discovery adventures in the forest together with his friends.
Warmly dressed, already early in the morning nature friends went to the only bird rehabilitation centre in Latvia, located in Madona county, where injured wild birds can get help to recover and return back to their life in nature. Here the participants have a meeting with LVM environmental expert Uģis Bergmanis – a man thanks to whose hard work and sustained efforts this rehabilitation station could be opened. Currently a white-tailed eagle and a tawny owl with an injured wing are living there.
The expedition continued deeper into the forest to study animal traces on the tree branches and in the snow. They even were lucky to find "footprints" of the lynx, which is a relatively rare animal in our forests - there were almost a kilometre long yellow "marks", which indicate the beginning of the mating season. The lynx just like the male cat marks its territory to attract females. "Kittens will definitely be born in the spring," says the expert.
"Many thanks to JSC "Latvia's State Forests" and in particular to LVM environmental expert Uģis Bergmanis for this exciting adventure in the forest, I really enjoyed it very much. Now, when taking a walk in the forest, I will look at broken shrub tops and other traces left by animals from a completely different perspective," says Evita.
Assessing the need to tell the society what, how and why is done in the territories managed by JSC "Latvia's State Forests" (LVM), the company holds regular educational seminars for teachers, exploratory tours for school students, as well as other exciting activities within the framework of the environmental education programme "Learning about Forests", involving the most experienced and knowledgeable LVM experts. For the participants it was an opportunity not only to get answers to their questions, but also to see, touch and even do things themselves.
