2019

LVM has been Managing State Forests Already for 20 Years

With a Cabinet order, Joint Stock Company “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) was established in October 1999. During these years, sustainable and responsible forest management has been implemented, combining economic, environmental and recreational needs.

Today Latvia is among the European countries richest in forest, with more than a half of its territory covered by forests. LVM manages and administers 1.63 million ha of state forest land, of which 1.41 million hectares are covered by forest. Forest as a renewable natural resource has long been important to Latvia and its inhabitants. Not only forest, but also public attitudes have changed over time: from a place of refuge and a source of livelihood, forest has become one of the most important resources for the riches of the state and an invaluable place for recreation.

“For each of us, forest has a different value. For some, forest is a place to work, investing a significant part of their lives and using their professional knowledge and skills. It is important that our contribution today is an attentive continuation of the work performed by previous generations so that forest continues to grow also in the future. “Contributions in the amount of more than a billion euros to the state budget, two planted trees per each cut tree, 50 thousand jobs in the regions of Latvia - it is a way how with real results and work we can show that JSC “Latvia's State Forests” implements sustainable, economically viable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible management of state-owned forests,” says Roberts Strīpnieks, President of LVM.

Since the establishment of LVM on 28 October 1999, more than 240 thousand hectares of forest have been restored in Latvia’s state forests, including more than 151 thousand hectares by planting and sowing trees. To encourage people to spend more time in nature, more than 360 recreation places have been arranged. During this time, forest roads with a total length of 7 thousand kilometres and forest drainage systems with a total length of 201 thousand hectares have been built and reconstructed. More than 100 000 students and teachers have been involved in annual forest environment education programmes to support young people's desire for practical training.

LVM's economic activities are carried out by maintaining and recovering forests, taking care of nature conservation, recreation opportunities and increasing timber volumes, as well as investing in expanding the forestland and developing forest infrastructure - renovation of drainage systems and forest road construction.