Newly-planted trees are foredoomed, predict people of Jēkabpils / Article

While the area certainly looks better than it did, local residents have been surprised by the appearance of new tree saplings that have been planted. They express the opinion that the new trees are unlikely to live very long, therefore the funds used have been spent in vain.

In, the municipality explained that the plantations form green infrastructure, which was a European requirement for the implementation of the project – regardless of how long the trees survive.

Historically, this part of the River Daugava is prone to serious annual flooding – which the new embankment project hopes to at least partially ameliorate.

Tied to support poles, the young trees stand tall in the Daugava winds. They have been planted in two places in Jēkabpils – in the riverside zone between the protective embankment and the river. It is planned that they, together with shrubs and other plants, will form phytoremediation fields – green infrastructure, where plants and soil microorganisms will be used to clean the environment. However, the residents are sceptical about their utility.

“Those trees were planted for no reason, in my opinion. That place is forever flooded, ice chinks come and break everything that grows there. I don’t understand who came up with such an idea!” one resident told Latvian Radio.

“I think they’re useless. The new floods will come, the new ice will come, and they’ll perish, because they’re tiny, still so small. They won’t last. They’ll look nice for six months if they are lucky,” said another.

“The money that will be washed away there could be used to do a lot of good things, where again sometimes they say that we don’t have the money. But look, we are allowing money to simply flow into the Daugava. I think it’s very uneconomical, wasteful, especially in these times when the whole country should be thinking very frugally,” said a third.

46 black alders and 46 common ash trees have been planted in the phytoremediation fields, and the cost of these trees is approximately 8.5 thousand euros.

The Jēkabpils regional government emphasized that the plantations were created to comply with the European Commission’s guidelines on green solutions included in the embankment reconstruction project.

“These are the guidelines of the European Commission, which provide for the establishment of such zones. Further, the precise execution, of course, is the expression of the developers and experts in the construction project,” explained the deputy chairman of the regional council for development issues, Kārlis Stars (National Alliance).

The municipality pointed out that tree species that are naturally found on river banks and tolerate wet, flooded environments have been selected for the creation of green infrastructure. It should also be noted that trees have previously grown near the protective dam.

“Before the winter floods of 2023, the diameter of individual trees growing at the foot of the protective dam reached more than 30 centimeters, which allows us to conclude that they have been able to grow for several decades under the influence of the flood. Of course, the impact of ice, especially ice floes, cannot be fully predicted. Trees can overcome minor damage, but in the case of more serious damage, losses are also possible,” admitted Stars.

Time will tell how strong the new plantings will be, but if the trees are damaged, the municipality will have to restore them. The phytoremediation fields near the Daugava are also intended for recreation and walking, so there will be appropriate infrastructure there. Stars emphasized that benches, garbage cans and other smaller objects will be dismantled and removed for the winter season – not an option available to trees.

Currently, the dam reinforcement is completed but other improvements are underway – construction of stairs and railings, placement of benches and environmental objects, as well as other works. Construction is planned to be completed by the rapidly approaching winter season at which point anything that isn’t bolted down will be removed again. The construction contract for the Daugava protective embankment is the most expensive in the history of Jēkabpils – the contract price is 17 million euros.

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