2020

Amount of Waste in Forests Keeps Increasing

Joint Stock Company “Latvia`s State Forests” (LVM) already for 20 years has been sustainably managing 1.6 million hectares of state forest land, carrying out responsible business activity and providing people in Latvia with free access to forests and recreation opportunities. More and more often LVM workers find different types of waste in forests. This amount has significantly increased as compared to the previous year. It is also the biggest amount of collected waste over the past ten years.

Last year, as compared to the year 2018, the amount of funds the company spent for solving this problem increased by 32%, collecting almost 2 thousand cubic metres of waste.

“One of the reasons for such an increase of waste in forests is the unresolved waste collection and sorting issues in individual areas and these problems should be addressed by local governments. The increasing cost of waste collection and disposal is another factor contributing to this problem, as well as lack of understanding about the damage that is caused to the nature as a result of such actions. The big heaps of waste in forests show purposeful and organized disposal of waste and judging from its content, the waste is brought in with different kinds of industrial transport from construction sites, car service stations and different used item stores,” tells LVM Forestry Planning Manager Edmunds Linde.

LVM reminds that it is illegal to leave garbage in forests. Persons guilty of such action will be held administratively liable and will have to compensate LVM for the losses related to the removal of waste. LVM urges nature friends to inform the State Environmental Service about any polluted places, using the mobile application “Vides SOS” (Environment SOS). Pigman, the patron and defender of clean forests, reminds: “Don't litter the forest! You'll turn into a pig!”

LVM develops, improves and maintains sites of public importance in different places in Latvia: sightseeing facilities, recreation areas, trails, observation towers and parks, offering various recreation opportunities to Latvian residents and guests free of charge. Encouraging people to spend their free time in nature, over a period of 20 years, LVM has established and maintains more than 360 freely accessible recreation sites throughout the territory of Latvia.