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Latvia Welcomes European Foresters

From 6 to 10 August, representatives of the Latvian forestry sector will host participants of the European Foresters' Orienteering Championship, which is to take place in Sigulda.

This year, 410 participants from 15 European countries have joined the competition. Participants will be given a unique opportunity to follow the World Orienteering Championship, since the EFOL competition is held in the same area and at the same time as the World Championship. The race calendar and start times are adapted so that the foresters can support their national teams and follow the events of the World Championship. Once the world's elite athletes have finished their distances, it will be the foresters' turn to compete with each other.

On the tour day participants will get acquainted with demonstration facilities of a number of Latvian forest industry companies. Representatives of JSC "Latvia’s State Forests", SIA "Sodra mežs", cooperative society "L.V. Mežs" and SIA"Latvijas mežu kompānija" will share information about innovations in the Latvian forest sector. In turn, the Nature Protection Board will tell about the nature conservation practice.

The tradition began in 1994, when, having participated in the Foresters' Biathlon Championship in Switzerland, Strenči Senior Forester Mārtiņš Gaigals had an idea to host an orienteering competition and bring together foresters from all over Europe. Since the first race, foresters from all over Europe have been gathering every year to compete with each other, to become familiar with forestry traditions, to exchange views and to get new insights and friends. This competition has already taken place in a number of European countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, as well as in Switzerland. This is the third time that the race returns to Latvia – last time it took place in Ventspils in 2005 and this event is still in warm memory of the participants.

Foresters are sporty people not only in Latvia but also elsewhere in Europe. They not only take care of natural resources, but are also always enthusiastic to come together at their free time to compete in such disciplines as tree felling, stand-up shooting, forest biathlon, or orienteering. Foresters not only compete but also explore the national forestry traditions of different countries, work experience and work cultures.

The competition is supported by Sigulda City Council, Nature Protection Board and members of the society "Meža sports" (Forest Sports): Ogre Technical School, the Forest Faculty of Latvia University of Agriculture, JSC "Latvia's State Forests", JSC "Latvijas Finieris", SIA "Rīgas meži".

PROGRAMME