Frequently asked questions
Site surveys mean that specialists and experts from the project partners go out to the Salaca river sub-basin and carry out field studies, collecting water, soil and biological quality element samples for further analysis. Alongside this, an inventory of habitats of EU importance will be carried out in some places, updating the existing data and correcting it according to the current situation in nature. This helps to better understand and assess the scope of the work, to choose the most suitable sites and methods, and later to monitor the effectiveness of the measures and methods introduced.
Monitoring is the systematic, long-term collection of data. Within the project, the ecological quality elements (biology, hydromorphology and physico-chemistry) will be monitored. The monitoring results will be available free of charge on the websites of LIFE IS SALACA and the responsible partners.
Rapids will be restored and improved over an area of 20 ha in the Salaca river sub-basin – in the Salaca and the Jaunupe.
Before the works could start, extensive fieldwork was needed – nature experts surveyed the river on foot or by boat and assessed 71 km of it using a previously developed methodology. The management works will take place for two months every summer, from 15 July to 15 September (2024–2028).
In 2024, restoration works have already been carried out in three sections of the Salaca River, covering a total of 6.43 ha – 1.22 ha upstream of the Korģe mouth, 0.58 ha in the section at “Atpūtas” and 4.63 ha at “Brūveļi”. By 2028, rapids restoration measures
are planned on 16 ha of the Salaca River during the project. The river sections where rapids will be restored in the coming years will be selected later, after all the field studies carried out this summer and the analysis of the collected data.
Management is a set of different measures aimed at improving water quality. It includes collecting data, assessing quality, defining the necessary actions, or management measures, and carrying out the practical work. But this order must not be broken! For the management measures to be meaningful and deliver the expected results, preparation, or a preliminary study, is needed. That is why any management starts with planning documents, followed by practical actions.
A nature conservation plan is a long-term planning document whose task is to balance the interests of nature conservation, use of natural resources and regional development so that the natural values of the area are preserved. Nature conservation plans are drawn up for a set period (usually 7–15 years) and approved by the Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development. The nature conservation plan defines the necessary nature conservation activities and the permitted economic activities according to the zoning of the specially protected nature area. The division into zones (strict regime, nature reserve, landscape protection and neutral zones) is justified in the nature conservation plan and additionally approved by adopting the individual regulations of the area. Nature conservation plans are binding on spatial plans at all levels and on the managers of the area.
Natura 2000 is a single network of protected areas of European Union importance, covering more than 18% of the EU’s land area and more than 8% of its marine territory. It is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world and offers a haven to Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats.
In Latvia, the Natura 2000 network includes 333 sites – 4 strict nature reserves, 4 national parks, 239 nature reserves, 37 nature parks, 9 protected landscape areas, 7 protected marine areas, 9 nature monuments and 24 micro-reserves.
The main nature conservation values of the “Salacas ieleja” (Salaca Valley) Nature Park are the Salaca River itself and the complex of habitats around it, which includes several habitats of the EU Habitats Directive – sandstone outcrops, undisturbed caves, slope forests, spring fens, river rapids and others. The area has outstanding landscape value along many stretches of the river, especially around Skaņaiskalns near Mazsalaca, downstream of Staicele, at the Mērnieki rapids and the Red Cliffs (Sarkanās klintis).
The previous nature conservation plan was drawn up in 2005 and extended until 2019; in it, the Salaca River was divided into four sections, each with its own plan. As the nature park currently has no valid nature conservation plan, it is difficult to plan management measures for the area and to attract funding for them.
Work on the nature conservation plan is expected to start in 2026. The plan is drawn up in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 686 “Regulations on the content and drafting procedure of the nature conservation plan for a specially protected nature area”.
When work on the plan starts, information meetings will be held to present the aims, process and planned activities of the plan, to identify stakeholders and to set up an advisory group for the plan, whose aim is to involve state and local government institutions, landowners, associations and foundations in drawing up and discussing the plan.
Information about each meeting will be published in the local newspaper of the municipality concerned and in the official gazette “Latvijas Vēstnesis” no later than two weeks before the meeting. It will also be posted as a notice in the municipality building and on the website of the Nature Conservation Agency.
Residents are invited to get involved in drawing up the nature conservation plan from the very beginning and to share their views, wishes and ideas on how they would like to see the future of the area.
There are two main reasons. First, the project activities are planned to follow one another. The nature conservation plan for “Salacas ieleja” will include the results of the activities carried out during the project – the calculation of ecosystem services, the harmonisation of the Water Framework Directive and the Habitats Directive, and the management methods for riparian forests and fish habitats. The plan is therefore the unifying and final stage of the project.
Second, the nature conservation plan is to be drawn up within a new framework that is currently being developed in the LIFE integrated project “Optimisation of the governance and management of Natura 2000 protected areas”, or LatViaNature. According to that project’s timeline, proposals for an improved nature conservation plan system are due in December 2025. LIFE IS SALACA can adopt this new approach from 2026, which also ensures continuity between the projects.
During the project, the rivers and the adjacent areas will be surveyed and studied in the field at several levels. In the summer of 2024, surveys will be carried out to prepare an assessment for management measures and to collect monitoring data for the harmonisation of the directives. Once work on the nature conservation plan starts, all the natural values within the “Salacas ieleja” Nature Park will be assessed and surveyed – river, forest, outcrop and other habitats of EU importance, as well as sites of rare species. The whole area will be assessed in equal detail.
The full name of the Habitats Directive is Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Its aim is to preserve species and habitats of EU importance by ensuring that they have a favourable conservation status. Latvia is obliged to ensure that the natural range of habitats of EU importance and the area they cover remain stable or increase, and that the structure and functions needed for their long-term existence are present and are likely to remain so in the near future.
Water is an essential resource that provides valuable services to both nature and people. Waters are both a home and a migration corridor for aquatic organisms, they help regulate the climate and floods, and they offer a wide range of recreational opportunities – tourism, boating, swimming and fishing. However, waters can only provide all these services we are used to if they are “healthy”, that is, of good quality. That is why it is everyone’s responsibility to take care of them and manage them properly.
The Water Framework Directive and the Habitats Directive share a common goal – to achieve good quality in freshwater ecosystems by assessing their quality, protecting them and managing them properly. However, the two directives take different approaches, which also lead to different quality assessments.
Harmonising the directives – put simply, improving the monitoring system, as recommended by both the European Commission and the Prioritised Action Framework – brings several benefits: more efficient resource management and integration of different sectors, lower overall costs of national monitoring, better quality of the data collected, comparable data for reporting, and aligned management measures.
An area inhabited by particular plant and animal species that have adapted to specific living conditions.
These are rare, biologically diverse areas that provide specific living conditions for certain plant and animal species, including endangered and specially protected species.
A riverbank is a transition zone between the river and the land, with specific conditions such as relief, moisture regime and soil. The forests growing on riverbanks are called riparian forests; they contain unique stands with a varied composition of fauna and flora species, ages and distribution.
As the climate changes, geographical conditions change too, and species have to move to find conditions that suit them, unless they are able to adapt to the new conditions. Species that need specific microclimatic conditions to survive and cannot adapt to a changing environment are called ecologically sensitive species.
Work on preparing the exhibition will start in 2025, and the exhibition is planned to open in autumn 2026. It will be on display at the nature education centre in Salacgrīva. The exhibition will present information about the Salaca River, freshwater quality, species and habitats in popular-science language. Materials about the progress and results of the project will also be available.
Visitors will also be able to see four complementary displays:
- The underwater world of the river;
- Laboratory;
- Mini cinema;
- River management from ancient times to the present day.
Each partner takes part in the activities according to its competence. Silava is responsible for the activities related to forests and ecosystem services and, as the lead partner, oversees the project. The Nature Conservation Agency is in charge of the nature conservation plan and the interactive exhibition. LEGMC is responsible for monitoring – data collection and analysis – and for carrying out the harmonisation process. BIOR and Salackrasti are in charge of everything to do with the rapids restoration measures. It is important to note, however, that the partners cooperate in all activities so that the project is implemented successfully.
