Smiltene district starts a fight with Latvians – 100 euros will be paid for each freed hectare

In the municipality of Smiltene county, it is indicated that if a more active fight is not started against the invasive weed, it may start to threaten even unique natural values. So, for example, a few years ago, Latvians had already multiplied near Raunas Staburaga – the only limestone formation of this kind in Latvia.

During the course of a few years, actively fighting against the latva, the invasive plant was eradicated from the vicinity of the staburag. The same cannot be said about other places in the Smiltene district, there in total almost 300 hectares of territory were deliberately taken over by Latvians.

This is the property of the municipality and here now the municipality will also fight with the Latvians. The land of the municipality itself is also occupied by Latvians. I have tried to mow them before, to break off the inflorescences, but there was no noticeable result. Therefore, this year it was decided to start fighting against them with poisoning – in Drustu Parish alone, chemicals were purchased for an area of 10 hectares.

“He is small and now is the right time to poison him, because he will be destroyed more effectively at this time. Its poison works through the leaves and this is the best time when it all gets absorbed through the leaves and he dies more easily. (TV3: He’s not that strong himself?) Yes, he just woke up in the spring,” explains Jānis Sīmanis, head of the Drustu parish administration.

However, the fight with latva, if it is done only on municipal land, is like a fight with a windmill, because the seeds of the invasive plant have no boundaries. Therefore, Smiltene has decided to motivate the residents to rid their territories of these foreign plants, by paying 100 euros for each hectare conquered from the Latvians this year.

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“The fact that we feel that it is very difficult to fight with him made us excited. And in order to destroy him, everyone, including the neighbors, must work together, and that’s why the municipality decided to give this support to the fight against Latvians. An inspection will be carried out in these properties and if there is not a single inflorescence of latvia, it means that latvia has been controlled this season, and then this financial support will be paid accordingly,” says Sallija Lakina, environmental management specialist of Smiltene district.

The State Plant Protection Service (VAAD), under whose auspices the whole of Latvia’s fight against the Latvian plant has been going for years, admits that the fight against it is not going as well as it would like. Official data shows that it has occupied an area of more than 11,000 hectares, in reality – even larger areas. And although a number of municipalities have been actively fighting against it for years, only a few have succeeded.

“In certain places, in certain parishes, we see that the situation has really improved, that there are fewer Latvians there, but for the country as a whole, I do not claim that this is the case,” says Gunita Škupele, director of the VAAD Plant Quarantine Department.

At the same time, the services observe that the desire to fight against the invasive plant continues to grow, both from municipalities and private individuals. Rare examples show that it is possible to exterminate Latvians – but it must be complex, using different methods at the same time.

“Either mowing or stabbing, if there is a small amount, maybe the sheep can be used as a means of grazing. But the main thing is that all the neighbors who have them start fighting at the same time in one season, so that these seeds do not pass from one property to another and do not cause havoc again,” said the Director of the Plant Quarantine Department of VAAD.

At the same time, the service reminds you to be especially careful when fighting the Latvians. Burns can also occur in the spring when they are still quite small.

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