In 2001, within the frame of the European Union PHARE programme, thanks to the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe, the project ‘Sustainable forest management in Latvia in connection with integration into the European Union – problems and solutions’ was implemented. The project was co-ordinated by Jānis Priednieks. The main aim of the project was evaluation of the conformity of Latvian forestry law to the principles of sustainable development (balanced ecological, economic and social interests), identification of the most important problems and formulation of recommendations for their resolution.

The project was implemented by LDF in collaboration with the Forest Board of the Riga City Council Properties Department and the Latvian Ornithological Society. The aim was to identify and discuss current problems in the normative acts regulating forest management in Latvia, in connection with the implementation of EU directives and international conventions and recommendations for protection of biodiversity. In the course of the project, a booklet was published entitled ‘Protection of biodiversity through sustainable forest management’, which lists the most important normative acts, EU directives and programmes (strategies), and international conventions that stipulate requirements or give recommendations for the provision of sustainable forest management.

In recent years, the volume of forest cutting significantly exceeds the actual increment in wood resources. A significant reduction in biodiversity has also been observed in forests, mostly connected with the large volumes of forest cutting on private land, and with radical changes in normative acts regulating improvement cuts and harvesting. This is a threat to Latvia’s fulfilment of international obligations in the field of nature conservation and the development of sustainable forest management.

Within the frame of the project, several seminars have been held, with the participation of representatives from the main interest groups. The project working group has formulated proposals for amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers Nature Conservation Regulations for Forest Management and the Felling Regulations for Forest Land in order to improve the balance between ecological and economic interests in forest utilisation. In the course of the project it was established that amendments are also necessary in the Law on Forest.