Abstract
The collectivisation of agriculture and the development and application of land improvement “melioration” programmes and technologies, as well as the construction of kolkhoz centres during the Soviet era in Latvia was extensive and has a legacy on the post-Soviet landscape and agricultural economy. A study of a number of rural municipalities in different landscape types, through the comparison of maps from the early 20th century with those from around 2000, and one example with maps from the 1960s and 1990s, together with field work, revealed the degree of change that had taken place. In particular, there was a significant increase in forest – despite the kolkhoz system being targeted at increasing agricultural outputs, a reduction in the number of farmsteads – in some places this was a result of land battles in the Second World war – and a concentration of residences in villages and widespread drainage of marshes, wetlands and wetter forest. Village centres with concentrations of blocks of flats, storage sheds and industrial units were developed. After 1991 and the restitution of land to the original owners or their descendants, large numbers of kolkhoz agricultural buildings, old estate buildings and some residential blocks became redundant and abandoned. Some of the farmland was also abandoned. The sampled areas show different amounts of landscape change and all showed large numbers of ruined buildings scattered around the area. The question of what to do with these, many of which are robbed of anything useful, vandalised and possibly causing pollution remains open, even after 25 or more years.
Highlights
During the 20th century Latvia experienced several major transformations in land use
The research questions are as follows: 1. What has been the impact of the changes to the landscape of Latvia resulting from the Soviet collectivisation process?
The results generally suggest that the potential for large-scale amelioration was the main factor affecting the development of the landscape
Summary
During the 20th century Latvia experienced several major transformations in land use. By 2000, the agricultural area was only 38.5%, at the expense of which forest had almost doubled in area, occupying 44.4% of the territory [1, 2] This period covers several major upheavals, including the Second World War, when Latvia was invaded several times and fought over with damaging consequences for the landscape and population (around a third of the population died, were exiled or fled abroad during the war period and many houses were destroyed in the battles).
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