We call on the Saeima members not to support the afforestation of LIZ

Today, October 7th, The members of the National Economy, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee are considering the draft law “Amendments to the Agriculture and Rural Development Law”, which provides for the afforestation of agricultural lands, the planting of forests, trees, shrub stands, and tree plantations, with the exception of fruit trees, berry bushes, and perennial berry bushes. The Association “Farmers’ Saeima” categorically opposes such a short-sighted proposal and calls on the members of the Saeima to submit for approval in the Saeima in the 3rd reading more favorable land management conditions for the national economy.

Chairman of the Farmers' Parliament Juris Lazdiņš explains: “The Latvian agricultural sector, despite recent economic processes, has great development potential. For example, The strategic goal of the Ministry of Agriculture is In 2020, 2 million hectares should be used for agricultural production. We are gradually approaching this amount, but we can expand the area involved in agricultural production by at least 300-400 thousand hectares.

It is sad to see that decision-makers could turn this process in the opposite direction, yielding to pressure from foresters, who often represent the interests of foreign investors. They are pushing the idea that it should be possible to afforest even good agricultural land. Such land where huge investments have been made in land reclamation, by placing drains in the ground. We cannot categorically support this, because these lands, which are currently not involved in production, are Latvia's opportunity for growth - to produce products, to obtain taxes, to ensure rural population, and not in 15 or 70 years, but in the coming years, thus making a direct contribution to the country's economy. By afforesting areas, large investments in land reclamation would be irretrievably lost, and moreover, the benefit to the economy from the land would be expected only after many years.

"More than half of the land in Latvia is already covered with forests, and the desire to further increase forest areas at the expense of agricultural land is incomprehensible. If afforestation should be carried out in some areas, then it should be in areas where clear-cutting has been carried out, but even there, owners often treat their properties irresponsibly."

The organization recalls that the deliberate afforestation of the country's main resource - agricultural land - is a short-sighted and ill-considered goal that can cause losses to the entire Latvian society and economy. Currently, large areas of agricultural land are being returned to production, which provides new jobs in rural regions and in the agricultural product processing industries, as well as maintains rural population. If agricultural land is afforested, it will have the opposite effect, as a result of which the entire Latvian economy will be the loser.