2019

The Forest is Your Stadium

We have a delightful novelty for anyone who appreciates active recreation in nature and the charm of orienteering sports - a new project called “The Forest is Your Stadium” offered by JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) and the Latvian Orienteering Federation. Within the framework of the project, every friend of nature is invited to get to know and relax in Latvian forests and to acquire orienteering skills.

“It is a great opportunity to relax in the forest with a map in your hands and indulging in sporting activities, changing city cobblestones and asphalt to winding forest paths. Moreover, it is a good way to learn from the forest about the forest, to get to know and see and appreciate what is happening in the forest and how different Latvia's nature, terrain and forest types are,” says Tomass Kotovičs, Head of LVM Communication Unit.

The aim of the “Forest is Your Stadium” project is to develop orienteering life and culture in all regions of Latvia. Already this year, in a number of Latvian orienteering series, everybody will be able to learn the basics of orienteering; participants will be offered free training as well as a special LVM distance for beginners.

LVM is a socially responsible company that provides sustainable management of state-owned forest capital. This capital is not just trees. These are the products and services provided by the forest ecosystem in a variety of ways. For example, breathing fresh air, listening to birds, using wood, picking mushrooms, hunting, exploring, and, of course, orienting in the forest. We are closely related to natural processes, though, with more and more time spent in the virtual environment, it is so easy to lose this connection. Therefore orienteering sport can be a bridge between the modern world and nature.

The aim of the “Forest is Your Stadium” project is to promote healthy lifestyle in nature, inviting people to get acquainted with orienteering sport. We aim to encourage residents, families to go to the forest to relax actively and feel safe in the forest and visit LVM's well-maintained recreation sites,” says Dagnis Dubrovskis, President of the Latvian Orienteering Federation.

The “Forest is Your Stadium” project this season will include 30 orienteering sports competitions in six orienteering series: “Siguldas Kompass” in Sigulda, “Valmieras magnēts” in Valmiera, “Jelgava Alnis” in Jelgava, “Saldus ABC” in Saldus, “Daugavpils Orientieris” in Daugavpils, and “Madonas kausi” in Madona. For more information, please see www.lof.lv.