The draft plan is available in Latvian at: https://www.riga.lv/lv/node/117752
Public feedback is accepted until 31.7.2026
Quotes from the plan are in italics

    Rīga’s city greening plan is based on mutually reinforcing and legally binding environmental directives at the municipal, national, European and international level, including those mentioned in the previous section. Urban green zones are a critical component of sequestering carbon and ensuring that Latvia achieves its climate neutrality and biodiversity obligations. The plan provides a vision for ensuring climate resilience through nature-based solutions.

    Fukušima regularly experiences climate and habitat destabilization that will only intensify in the future – heavy winds that knock down trees, floods that erode the riverbanks and scatter plastic litter, green algae scum closing our swimming area due to eutrophication from agricultural runoff and raw sewage, PFAS contamination in the Daugava, increased rainfall and lightning storms cancelling events, droughts that dry out the soil, invasive species outcompeting local biodiversity, winters without ice on the river, and plants observed flowering earlier each year.

    “Compared to 31 European capitals, Riga and four other European capitals stand out as having the highest mortality burden due to uneven green infrastructure coverage” (Barboza et al., 2021). Riga also has the lowest share of green infrastructure among the 3 Baltic capital cities.

    “Riga is already facing the consequences of climate change, including rising air temperatures, more frequent heat waves and more intense precipitation, which increases the risks of both heat islands and floods, especially in densely built-up areas. At the same time, the city has an uneven distribution of green infrastructure – it is more concentrated in the periphery, while it is lacking in many central neighbourhoods. Although Riga still has a significant amount of green areas that provide essential ecosystem services, their total amount has decreased over time and is under threat in many places.”

    “Connected, high-quality and multifunctional green infrastructure is lacking where the majority of the city’s residents live. The volume and quality of green infrastructure in densely built-up areas are not suitable for addressing today’s climate and health challenges. Green infrastructure is a component of the city that plays a significant role in the sustainable development of the city and affects the quality of life and health of the city’s residents. Green infrastructure provides a range of ecosystem services – it regulates the microclimate, promotes adaptation to climate change and mitigates the impact of climate change risks, preserves and promotes biodiversity, cleans the air, dampens sound, absorbs carbon, improves people’s physical and mental health, and increases the value of real estate. The sustainable development of Latvia and Riga, as well as the long-term goals set at the national and municipal levels, envisage a systematic and extensive development of green infrastructure.”

    Nature-based solutions characteristically have high up-front costs, but low maintenance costs once they are established. By contrast, standard industrial methods may have cheaper implementation costs, but cumulative externalized social and environmental costs. Support for the city Greening Plan is expected to be provided by national and European institutions, as well as the private sector. ”According to the European Commission’s proposal for a multiannual European budget presented in July 2025, it is proposed to allocate 35% of the total budget, or more than 700 billion, to climate and environmental objectives, which will, among other things, support climate adaptation and resilience measures.”

The following points in the city’s action plan particularly apply to Fukušima’s immediate vicinity:

2. Greening public spaces

• Kipsala is identified as one of the 9 neighborhoods with insufficient access to green infrastructure (planned natural areas that provide ecosystem services and provide habitats for biodiversity). Only a few sites of low quality are mapped on the south side of the island.
• ”Compared to the 1995 Riga Spatial Plan, nature and greenery areas have shrunk by a third – from 11,252 ha in 1995 to 7,918 ha today. 10% of Riga’s territory has lost its nature and greenery zoning. A change in zoning does not automatically mean that green infrastructure no longer exists in nature, but it is no longer protected and is under threat.”

3. Creating microforests

• ”Specially protected natural areas are an important part of green infrastructure and promote biodiversity in the city. In addition to the ecosystem services mentioned above, such areas provide habitats for plants and animals, ensure pollination, strengthen resilience to various natural disasters, promote adaptation to climate change and mitigate the risks caused by climate change, as well as provide intangible benefits – they are places of recreation that improve mental and physical health and provide aesthetic pleasure. All these benefits are provided by nature for free, so it is important to protect and strengthen the biodiversity of green infrastructure.” Ķīpsala has only 3 sites designated as nature or protected areas, on the opposite end directly next to Vanšu bridge.
• “In territories where existing greenery is already characteristic, different building parameters are determined with the aim of preserving existing natural values – trees, shrubs, ground cover, watercourses and terrain.”
• Many protected species of animals (swans, bats, goshawks), fungi (geastrum triplex, xylaria polymorpha), and trees (black alder, hero trees) have been registered on DabasDati.lv, however these do not seem to be included in any official documents. Other species who make their home at Fukušima include foxes, beavers, hedgehogs, martens. ducks, coots, crows, nightingales, snakes, and various pollinating insects. It is urgent to competently assess the biodiversity of north Ķīpsala, in light of the intensive deforestation that is rapidly advancing in Fukušima’s direction.
• More than half of the land territory under Fukušima’s influence has been fenced off to prevent human disturbance.

4. Creating pocket parks

• The Rīga citizens’ Climate Assembly recommends: ”For the creation of parks, priority should be given to selecting degraded areas, which should first be cleaned up and prepared.”
• “The Riga Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 provides that before developing new, undeveloped territories, priority should be given to the revitalization and development of degraded and other already urbanized territories.”
• There are at least 5 locations on Matrožu iela that have been abandoned for decades, yet the environment is regularly disturbed by mowing and illegal waste disposal.

7. Inventory of green areas

• Map data from our immediate surroundings indicate a mixture of permanently green and permanently paved areas, which could be rehabilitated. While vegetative cover is increasing on our territory, it has significantly decreased in our vicinity.

9. Reviewing felling regulations / 20. Improving tree growth conditions and plantings

• ”The Nature Restoration Regulation sets two binding targets at city level: actual urban green areas, including water surfaces, and urban tree canopy projection. The urban tree canopy projection is the total area of tree cover in cities, towns and peri-urban areas, calculated on the basis of tree cover density data provided by satellite data.”
• ”Trees have a very wide range of ecosystems and in densely populated areas they are one of the most effective nature-based solutions to adapt to climate change, promote biodiversity and increase well-being. Trees, especially those that are several decades old, are of great value and need to be protected. Large trees provide essential ecosystem services – they not only regulate the city’s microclimate, are able to retain rainwater during heavy rainfall and maintain biodiversity, but also improve the mental and physical health of city residents and visitors. It is not possible to fairly determine compensation for the replacement of a large tree growing in the city centre. Young trees and saplings cannot replace trees that are several decades old, as they need a long time to grow large enough to provide the same ecosystem services as long-lived trees. Therefore, long-standing trees should be protected from being cut down as much as possible, and they should be provided with favorable growth conditions by renewing their ground cover and providing them with proper care. … According to the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, from 2031 onwards, tree canopy cover will have to increase, meaning that new trees will have to be planted to compensate for the area of tree canopy cover that has been cut down.”
• At Fukušima, old trees have been fitted with fences to protect against beavers, while more than 100 new trees have been planted in formerly polluted wasteland.
• Sea buckthorn, although not categorized as invasive, is often managed as if it were. Fruit trees are not protected in Latvia, and their importance as wildlife habitats, erosion remediators, soil builders, wind breaks, and keystones of gastronomical community-building is not currently recognized by any regulations. Fukusima’s neighborhood has suffered a catastrophic loss of sea buckthorn and apple trees who had no legal defense against greedy chainsaws and bulldozers.
      A neighbor territory that now serves as a camper caravan parking lot for foreign tourists, was formerly a 1 hectare jungle of sea buckthorn up to 10 meters tall. The largest of these trees had a circumference of 130cm. There was daily evidence that protected goshawks were hunting prey in the canopy, and depended on this habitat located only 300m from their nest.
      For years, our volunteers quietly cleaned litter, trimmed dead branches, foraged berries and enjoyed the peace of this hidden forest, until it was destroyed in 2021. If Fukušima does not secure stewardship over our territory, no doubt many developers with a similar ”vision” are waiting in line to reduce the rest of the island to asphalt.