The events took place in four Natura 2000 protected areas of European importance – Ķemeri National Park, Rāzna National Park, and the nature reserves “Piejūra” and “Popes Zāļu Purvs” – bringing together a total of 524 participants.
The majority of the events – 12 in total – focused on controlling various invasive plant and animal species, including Japanese rose, Tartarian lettuce, Himalayan balsam, Spanish slug, and Canadian goldenrod. Four events were dedicated to habitat restoration, including the EU-protected habitats “Fast-flowing river sections and natural river stretches” and “Calcareous fens.”
In 2025, participants in the volunteer events represented a wide range of social groups. Of the total 524 participants, the largest group – 277 participants (53%) – were representatives of companies; 169 participants (32%) were members of the public; 48 participants (9%) were school students; and 30 participants (6%) were nature experts.
Since the start of the project, a total of 50 volunteer events have been organized, involving 1,732 participants.
A strong emphasis is placed on education at each volunteer event – nature experts not only take part in the work but also begin by explaining why the activities are necessary, what results are expected, and why they are important for nature conservation.
A new addition this year was the introduction of an entertaining element to the educational events. During volunteer activities aimed at controlling the invasive Spanish slug in Sigulda and Zvejniekciems – both of which attracted a wide range of participants – night-time competitions were held to collect the largest number of slugs. Participants highly appreciated the competitive aspect.
“However, I would particularly like to highlight one of this year’s events—the clean-up of the site of the extremely rare Estonian bittercress at Popes Zāļu Purvs, which is one of only two known locations of this species in Latvia. This event demonstrated in practice the importance of cooperation between the public and private sectors in nature conservation, as the site is partly owned by a private company that actively participated in its preservation,” says Ieva Saleniece, Head of the LatViaNature project. More about the volunteer event to improve the Saussurea esthonica Baer ex Rupr. site: HERE >>>
LatViaNature educational volunteer events take place within the initiative “Do Good for Nature,” organized by the Nature Conservation Agency and the World Wide Fund for Nature to support habitat conservation, restoration, and invasive species control across Latvia.
