Resource information
Forest is an important natural resource to the Latvian economy. It is useful to examine the historical context to estimate objectively the events that created the structure of forest property rights today. While 50.3% of all Latvian forests are state-owned and the remaining 49.7% are under different ownership, historically this structure has changed with the political situation and the authorities. The changes in forest property rights were examined from the beginning of the 20th century up to modern times, identifying three distinct periods The main conclusions were that, looking from the standpoint of economic performance, the period between the beginning of the 20th century and 1940 was characterized by an ill-conceived transformation of forests into farmland. In 1989, the notion that rural households are an economically independent form of farming became established. The year 2000 marked the final large transformation, as the state functions in forestry were delegated to the Joint Stock Company ''Latvijas valsts mezi'', which now contributes significantly to the state and local budgets.
