2016

Baltic Professional Logging competition has ended

The 52nd Baltic professional games for students of vocational education institutions of the forestry sector took place in Ogre, on 11 and 12 May. Tree felling disciplines, a forest relay, work with forest machine simulators and a forwarder - these were some of the tasks to be done by the forestry students from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The Latvian team was successfully represented by ten students from Ogre Technical College.

The spirit of competition could also be enjoyed at the Latvian Open Logging Championship. Latvian representative Gatis Brencis (Husqvarna 372 XP) from Smiltene with 1616 points was recognised as the winner in the competition of 24 participants.

Also students of vocational education institutions took part in the competition together with professional tree fellers from the Baltic countries. Matīss Mūrnieks with 1176 points was the most successful participant among the students of Ogre Technical College.

Ģirts Abizārs, one of the organisers, comments on the significance of the competition and the opportunities offered to the participants: "This is a technical sport, where tree fellers are continuously improving their professional skills. In practice these skills mean that a tree feller uses the most productive methods for felling trees, reduces the risk of occupational accidents, knows how to properly file a chain and maintain a chainsaw, which increases the service life of the chainsaw. A competition is the right place to select the best trees fellers among both - professionals and forestry students."

The team members demonstrated their skills in five disciplines: chain changing, combined cross-cutting, exact cross-cutting, wooden mast felling and pruning.

The Latvian Championship is one of this year's Baltic competition stages for the association "Meža sports" to prepare the best logging team to represent Latvia in the 32nd World Logging Championship, this year to take place in Poland, from 8 to 12 September.

JSC "Latvia's State Forests" already since establishment of the public organisation "Meža sports" (Forest Sports) in 2003, has been supporting the activities related to promotion of the forest sector among young people, development of professional skills of forestry workers, and raising of public awareness of the diversity of forest values.