2016

With the Closing Event in Riga, Pigman Rounds up His Wood-Enthusiast Tour around Latvia

With howling sirens of the pig-mobile and cries of delight of the youngest wood enthusiasts, our nature friend Pigman (Cūkmens) with his Pigman's Wood Enthusiast Workshop this summer visited five cities in Latvia: Jelgava, Rēzekne, Liepāja, Valmiera and Riga. This tour was organised for children to learn about the properties of wood and its wide application in a number of different activities. Altogether more than a thousand toys were created in the Pigman's workshops. A wooden manifesto was presented to each city that Pigman visited. By signing this manifesto, its recipients promised to promote, love and respect wood as the best and most valuable natural resource in Latvia.

In the closing event of the Pigman's Wood-Enthusiast Tour that took place in Riga on 26 August, in addition to playing games and making wooden toys, the wooden manifesto was presented to Andris Ameriks, Deputy Chairman of Riga City Council.

The winner of the competition Draw a Wooden Pigman was also announced and congratulated in this event. Eight-year old Regnārs Rubuls from Jelgava will have an opportunity to make a party for his friends in LVM Nature Park in Tērvete together with Pigman himself. His drawing, with the help of woodcarvers of Latvia's State Forest Nature Park in Tērvete, already in spring will turn into a real wooden sculpture of Pigman, which will embody the good qualities of wood. The authors of the other 50 drawings were also greeted, and Haralds Luste from Koknese received a special award from JSC "Latvia's State Forests" and Pigman.

Tomass Kotovičs, a representative of Latvia's State Forests and expert in the use of wood, is sure that wood is still the most beloved material in Latvia, both - for daily use and in construction: "Pigman with his tour around Latvia has taken a big step forward to remind and educate people about the merits of wood. As the results of a survey conducted on the family portal mammamuntetiem.lv show, two thirds of Latvian families would like to have more wood in their living space. Many choose to buy wooden furniture and kitchen utensils, as they believe them to be healthier, more durable and beautiful. If we want our children to grow up healthy and strong, we should pay more attention to wood as a perfect material for construction, as well as in our everyday life."

  Open gallery 

Previously, Pigman, the main character of LVM campaign "Do not Litter the Forest!", had talked about the bad things that can be found in the forests, urging people not to litter and take care of Latvian forests. This summer, Pigman focused on informing people about the role of wood in our lives. The forest provides us not only with fresh air, but also with wood, which is one of the most environmentally friendly materials, especially for children.

To educate children about the importance of clean forests and to strengthen their sense of responsibility towards the environment, LVM will continue the eco-programme "Pigman's Detectives" (Cūkmena detektīvi), which was started last year. Within its framework, 4 to 7 year-old children together with their teachers are invited to reveal the secrets of forest, by reading fairy tales, playing Pigman's circus and by growing their own trees, thus becoming Pigman's detectives. The eco-programe will be open for applications already in September.