Latvia boasts a diverse range of peatlands, including fens, transition mires and bogs, covering about 10% of the country’s territory. A considerable part of these peatlands are influenced by human activities, such as peat extraction, forest planting and land reclamation, requiring drainage, affecting the hydrological regime and leading to habitat loss; pristine bogs and wetlands are critical habitat for many species and one of Latvia’s natural treasures.
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.
The Baltic countries have a long history of peat extraction and large areas have been exploited, mostly during and after the Soviet era 1940-1991. Many of these peat extraction fields have since then been drained and converted to agricultural land.
Commercial cranberry cultivation on former peatlands became popular in Latvia in the 1980s, and have since been advocated as an alternative restoration strategy, especially when the possibility of hydrological restoration is considered difficult due to surrounding cover ditched and drained agricultural land or when it is considered to be too expensive.
Nature Gift cranberry farm 31 miles north of Riga, is established on a pristine peat bog. Andris Špats, who founded and runs the farm, explains that the protection provided by the pine and birch trees in the alley shaped cranberry system mitigates spring frosts, which otherwise risk damaging the flower buds. The trees also contribute to cooler surface and air temperatures during the hot season: the berries need cool summers and cold winters in wetlands with acidic and nutrient-poor soil in order to absorb important nutrients and develop flavour and colour.
While some traditional cranberry farming practices involve flooding for harvesting, Latvian cranberry cultivation often does not, and drainage systems designed to ensure an average groundwater level of 0.5 meters preventing waterlogging and root rot are required. Irrigation systems are often used to supplement rainfall, for adequate moisture.
Even
though cranberry plantations do 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.
With the exception of Andris
Špats, a female dominated workforce was engaged in the processing and
storage of the berries, while Andris, showing us around, noted that
“women were not mentally equipped to understand the complex processes
that the berries undergo”, which made us hesitant to include this system
in the reporting.
Can a cranberry plantation protected by tree lines be considered agroforestry? The Latvians suggest it could. At our visit, bare, black soil stretched all the way beyond the Nature Gift scenery to the horizon, while the heavy machinery of another cranberry enterprise was preparing for new plantations.
Berry farming certainly seems to be a huge industry in Latvia.
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)