Latvia

Latvia combines a Baltic coastline of almost five hundred kilometres with an interior of forests, peatlands and little-altered rivers. More than half the country is forested, and the Gauja valley, with its red sandstone outcrops and incised meanders, forms the oldest and most visited national park. The Ķemeri bogs, crossed by wooden boardwalks over a mosaic of pools and dwarf pines, are the most accessible example of a habitat type that covers much of the country. The fauna includes wolf, lynx, moose, black stork and a very high density of beavers. On the coast, Cape Kolka, where the Gulf of Riga meets the open sea, works as a migration funnel on a continental scale. The flood meadows of the Dviete river keep extensive grazing with hardy horses and cattle that hold the landscape open.