The LIFE Peat Restore experts from University of Latvia have prepared three new, colourful brochures about the project areas – Augstroze Nature Reserve, Baltezers Mire Nature Reserve and Engure Lake Nature Park, all located in Latvia. The brochures will be useful for those who want to get familiar with these prominent peatland areas, to learn more about the natural processes, peatland species and their habitats. The authors have paid also attention to land use history, as it is tightly related with today’s situation in peatlands and other wetlands in these areas. The brochures may serve as a guide for those who want to explore these areas and find out more about peatlands and their relation to climate and biodiversity conservation.
Since all three areas, Augstroze, Baltezers Mire and Engure Lake, are peatland areas, the brochures focus on mires. The main aim of LIFE Peat Restore project is restoring peatlands to mitigate climate change. For this reason, during the summer of 2020 the peatlands in all three areas will be rewetted by blocking ditches. The removal of trees and shrubs, which can be a necessary step to restore peatlands, has already been done in Engure Lake Nature Park, in early 2020.
Prior to the restoration work, an extensive investigation in nature, mapping and modelling was performed during the last three years in all project areas. For the first time in Latvia the GEST approach (abbreviation from Greenhouse Gas Emission Sites Types) was tested. The data obtained using the GEST approach are being analysed together with instrumental measurements of greenhouse gas emissions. The brochures explain the complicated methods and their application in a simple language, so that it is accessible not only to experts, but also to anyone interested in nature.
All brochures are available in both Latvian and English.
Brochure on Augstroze Nature Reserve: read and download here
Brochure on Baltezers Mire Nature Reserve: read and download here
Brochure on mires in Engure Lake Nature Park: read and dowload here