Latvia, Markets and Companies, Woodwork

that there has been an increase in forested areas and timber extraction the past 20 years.

There has also been an improvement in the health of Latvian forests, however, Ozols pointed out that there has also been a substantial increase in damage caused to forests by natural causes – wind, snow and pests, writes LETA.

He also pointed out that Latvian forests have a value of LVL 26 million when taking into account the services that they provide, of which 73% is made up of hunting.

''The management of Latvia's forests is one of the most effective in Europe. We have not allowed any big mistakes,'' Ozols emphasized.

The dean of the Wood Processing Department of the School of Forestry at the Latvian University of Agriculture Dagnis Dubrovskis points out that 54.14% of Latvia's territory is made up of forests, with a total of 633.48 million cubic meters of timber.

At the same time, many forested areas that were replanted many years ago have reached maturity and can be cut down once again at a sustainable rate.

''The annual timber extraction volumes are being controlled at a sustainable level and are not exhausting the country's forest resources,'' said Dubrovskis.