UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 49
Andris Špats.
WETLANDS ARE
CRUCIAL TO COMBAT
FLASH FLOODING, ACTING
LIKE A SPONGE, ABSORBING
THE EXCESS OF WATER
AFTER STORMS AND
RELEASING IT MORE
SLOWLY. WITH THE
ONGOING CHANGES IN
PRECIPITATION PATTERNS,
THE IMPORTANCE OF
THIS SERVICE WILL
INCREASE.
Even though cranberry plantations provide ecosystem services, such as storage and regulation
of water and nutrients, and creating habitat for
birds, insects and amphibians, the value of these
services is lower than in natural wetlands.
Can a berry plantation protected by tree lines be
considered agroforestry? The Latvians suggest it
could. It certainly seems to be a huge industry in
Latvia. At our visit, bare, black soil stretched all
the way beyond the Nature Gift scenery to the
horizon, while the heavy machinery of another
berry enterprise was preparing for new plantations.
With the exception of Andris Špats, a female
workforce was engaged in the processing and
storage of the berries, while Andris, showing
us around, noted that “women are not mentally
equipped to understand the complex processes
that the berries undergo”, which made us hesitant
to include this system in the reporting.
•
Several LIFE projects focus on restoring and protecting priority bog habitats, including hydrological
restoration and management. About 12% of Latvia’s
mires are now part of protected areas, under state
protection.
•
Sustainable and responsible after-use of peat extraction areas (2019)
•
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from Cranberry and
Highbush Blueberry Plantations on Former Peat Extraction Fields Compared to Active Peat Extraction
Fields and Pristine Peatlands in Latvia. (2024)
