Latvia to allow felling larger trees outside forests without approval

Latvia’s government decided on Tuesday to allow larger trees to be felled outside forests without prior approval, LSM reported. The threshold for requiring a felling permit will rise from a stump diameter of 20 centimetres to 30 centimetres.

The initial proposal was to raise the threshold to 35 centimetres, but the Latvian Fund for Nature opposed that plan.

The Ministry of Agriculture said the changes would reduce the administrative burden on landowners, businesses and municipalities. They are expected to reduce the number of cases requiring municipal approval while preserving protection for particularly valuable trees and the habitats of protected species.

Under the new rules, trees with a stump diameter of up to 30 centimetres, or a circumference of up to 94 centimetres, may be felled without municipal approval. Whether approval is required will also depend on the tree’s species, location and protection status. Municipalities will be able to set stricter requirements for preserving trees.

Approval will also not be required in several other cases. Trees may be felled without a permit in residential areas, except in areas with apartment buildings, unless the municipality has introduced tree-preservation requirements.

Trees may also be felled without approval on land registered in the cadastre as agricultural land, except for large trees of a specified size.

The removal of dead and dangerous trees will become simpler. Before felling, the tree must be photographed from at least three viewpoints and the municipality must be notified. The photographs must clearly show that the tree is dead or that its damage poses a threat to infrastructure, human health, life or property.

If tree felling is required for construction, it may be assessed together with the construction documents without a separate felling permit. During the construction process, the felled tree may also be compensated for by planting at least three new trees, each at least 10 years old, on the same land parcel.

In such cases, municipal approval will not be required if the tree being felled is not subject to specific nature protection requirements. A tree-felling permit issued by a municipality will be valid for two years.