The Latvian Red Data Book is an important tool for planning species conservation measures. However, the implementation of these measures often depends on the legal protection status of each species. For this reason, one of the key activities of the LIFE FOR SPECIES project has been the development of a scientific proposal for revising the list of specially protected species. Work on the proposal and the related draft amendments to legal acts has now been completed, and the documents have been submitted to the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development for further processing.

• The proposal was developed between 2021 and 2026, with the involvement of a broad range of experts, stakeholders and the wider public.
• Species were selected for inclusion in the protected species list based on several criteria, including their extinction risk in Latvia and Europe, Latvia’s international obligations and responsibility for species conservation, their association with rare and threatened habitats, their socio-economic and intangible value, and other relevant factors. Conservation measures were selected based on species’ ecological requirements, threats and European Union legislation. The approach developed within the project will also support future updates of the protected species list.
• The proposal includes 926 species. Of these, 407 species require the establishment of micro-reserves, while 29 species may be subject to limited use. Compared with the currently valid protected species list, the protection status of 157 species could be eased, while for 356 species it should be strengthened.
• Historically, the most significant changes to the protected species list have also followed the publication of the Latvian Red Data Book. However, this is the first time that the proposal for the list of specially protected species includes fewer species than the Red Data Book. For example, 11% of species threatened in Latvia are not included in the scientific proposal.
• To make the legal acts regulating species protection easier to use, eliminate inconsistencies and facilitate future amendments, the proposal recommends merging the species lists currently included in four different Cabinet Regulations into a single set of regulations.
• A socio-economic assessment was also carried out during the development of the proposal. Its findings show that the socio-economic benefits of implementing species conservation measures exceed the related costs by more than 20 times.

The scientific proposal, socio-economic assessment and other related materials are available in Latvian here.