Development of proposals for the improvement of national forest monitoring, including forest biodiversity monitoring and second-level air pollution impact monitoring components, as well as consultative scientific support for the preparation of Latvia's positions on the European Parliament and Council regulation on the monitoring framework promoting the sustainability of European forests

Study supported by the Forest Development Fund (agreement No. 24-00-S0MF01-000003)

The aim of the Study is to obtain information on the state of biological diversity (at the genetic, species level) and to assess changes at the national level in order to ensure sustainable forest management in Latvia, as well as to carry out monitoring of the assessment of the impact of second-level air pollution. Second-level forest monitoring provides an opportunity to obtain data on the state of forest health, the interaction of forest and environmental factors, and the state of forest soils, as well as provides information on the impact of air pollution and the impact of other environmental factors on forest ecosystems.

Tasks performed in monitoring:

1. Assessment of plant communities and epiphytes, epixillae in at least 100 forest resource monitoring plots;
2. In-depth assessment of dead wood in all forest resource monitoring plots that contain dead wood;
3. Monitoring of structures important for biological diversity in all forest resource monitoring plots where trees grow;
4. Carry out forest genetic diversity monitoring in two stands of forest genetic resources and two seed plantations;
5. Second-level air pollution impact assessment programs in accordance with the ICP Forests guidelines, monitoring of mandatory parameters in two sample plots;
6. To provide consultative scientific support for the preparation of Latvia's positions on the draft regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the framework of monitoring promoting the sustainability of European forests.