The Constitutional Court (ST) reports having initiated a case over government regulations that narrowed the average size of trees to be felled, which opened the way to cut down young forests.
Amendments to Rules on Forest Logging, which permit chopping down young pine, spruce and birch forests were proposed in 2017 and then again in 2019. Both times these amendments were halted due to objections from environmentalists. But in summer 2022 Krišjāņš Kariņš’s government
rapidly passed amendments, appealing to the need to significantly raise wood chip production.
This time the government ignored objections from environmentalists.
Ministry of Agriculture, then led by Kaspars Gerhards, claimed: although the reduction of the size of trees does expand felling territory, and increased requirements for forest restoration mean the general production output of the forestry sector is not expected to increase significantly. Changes also promote productive forest management using economically valuable types of trees.
As reported by the Constitutional Court, a case to assess compliance of amendments to Latvia’s Constitution was commenced in response to the request from Latvia’s Nature Fund, World Wide Fund for Nature and Latvian Ornithological Association. These organisations asked the Constitutional Court to check Annex 7 to the Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers on the felling of trees in forests to ensure the changes comply with Section 115 of the Constitution.
Authors of the request say that the new rules permit the felling of certain trees sooner, which basically permits the felling of younger trees, which would be in breach of the aforementioned section of the Constitution.
Secondly, there is the possibility of the violation of the principle of longevity and non-compliance with the requirement for people to live in a clean and safe environment that also promotes development.
The preparation term for the case is the 27th of June.
Also read: Prohibition for prisoners to vote in municipal elections declared unconstitutional in Latvia