HUNTING SAFETY ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT IN LATVIA.

Forest plays a multifaceted role, which is determined by its economic, ecological and social values; therefore, sustainable forestry development has to ensure a balanced use of all the values. For the first time in Latvia, the situation in hunting management was analysed, assessing the level of safety and traumatism. The research aim is to assess safety in the process of hunting and the real situation in Latvia. The research found that the most dangerous kinds of hunting were hound hunting and waterbird hunting during their autumn migration. In the period 1969-2016 in Latvia, 268 individuals suffered from hunting-related accidents; of them, 80 or 30% of the total lost their lives, making a EUR 39 million loss to the national economy. In this period, 126 hunting accidents or 47% of the total were severe or moderate, in which an individual lost the ability to work or became disabled. Since 2000, the safety of hunting has improved, as the number of deaths and serious accidents in hunting has decreased. In Latvia, 45% of the total number of surveyed hunters faced a situation where their lives or health were endangered but there was no accident. An analysis of unreported hunting-related traumatism showed that every hunter suffered a trauma during hunting or hunting area maintenance works. An analysis of the kinds of traumas revealed that minor body injuries prevailed, yet some of the hunters received moderate and severe injuries during hunting (extensive tissue damage, broken bones). In general, one can conclude that the environment for hunting is safe in Latvia, which was mentioned by 66% of the hunters; however, a greater focus has to be placed on observing the hunting safety requirements and initiating amendments to the relevant legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]