Primary forests: Lithuania confronts its natural heritage

A primary forest is a pristine forest that has never been altered by human activity. It is a precious ecosystem, particularly for its biodiversity. Globally, only 1,180,000,000 hectares remain, primarily in six countries: Brazil, Canada, the United States, Russia, China, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These forests have almost vanished elsewhere due to centuries of agricultural expansion, logging, mining, and urban development that permanently transformed natural landscapes. Protecting the remaining primary forests is critical because they store vastly more carbon, sustain unique biodiversity, and preserve intact ecosystems in ways that secondary or plantation forests cannot replicate.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN recalls that industrial forests (or plantations) are human-planted, intensively managed stands, meaning an area of the forest dedicated to a specific tree species, usually of one or two species, grown primarily for commercial wood production. In contrast, primary forests are naturally regenerated, minimally disturbed ecosystems with native biodiversity and complex, old-growth structure.

In Europe, there are approximately 3,700,000 hectares of primal forests, representing about 2.5% of European forests. These are mainly located in the boreal regions of Finland and Sweden, as well as in Poland, including the iconic Bialove Forest, which straddles the border with Belarus. In Lithuania, primary forest covers just 64 hectares, yet initiatives are increasingly emerging to protect and better understand these exceptional ecosystems. Indeed, they harbor very old trees, high structural complexity, such as large deadwood and multilayered canopies, and microhabitats that support species rarely found in managed forests. These untouched ecosystems are not only hotspots for wildlife, including specialized fungi, insects, and cavity-nesting birds, but also provide living laboratories for ecological research, as their natural dynamics such as growth, decay, carbon storage, remain unaltered by intensive forestry.

Impact of Agriculture and Industrialization on Lithuanian Forests:

Primary and protected old-growth forests are mere specks in Lithuania. Younger industrial forests, on the other hand, represent one-third of the country's territory. Finding a balance between agriculture, the forestry industry, and environmental protection is therefore challenging, because so much of Lithuania’s land is already dedicated to intensive production. When nearly one-third of the country is under commercial forest management and another large share is used for agriculture, the pressure to keep landscapes economically productive often outweighs the need to preserve old-growth stands, restore habitats, or leave areas untouched. As a result, conservation interests are frequently pushed into the smallest, least profitable spaces, creating direct land-use competition that threatens the long-term protection of rare ecosystems.

While institutions certainly have the power to protect forests for the well-being of society, this does not seem to be on the political agenda in Lithuania, according to a botanist from Fondation Sengirés. The botanist explains that while many Lithuanians feel a deep desire to protect nature, their wishes often clash with powerful economic interests: the forestry industry values forests as a vital source of biomass, timber, and wood-products exports, generating significant revenue and employment. These commercial pressures, combined with weak or changing regulations, put exceptional ecosystems at risk, because the drive to harvest wood for energy and export can override conservation goals.

Aisté Gedviliene, a member of parliament from the conservative Homeland Union party, explains that her party aims to have 35% of Lithuania's territory forested by 2030. However, without the creation of new industrial forests, these objectives will not be achieved before 2047.

Actions and Reflections of Lithuanian Biologists

It is in the historical national park of  Trakai, located about forty kilometers west of Vilnius, that the Senguirés Foundation manages several forested plots in Lithuania. Its most recent acquisition, approximately 31 hectares, is notable because it has been designated for long-term restoration with the goal of reverting to primary forest over the next few centuries. Highlighting this specific plot emphasizes the Foundation’s active commitment to creating new primary-forest habitats, even within a larger portfolio of conservation areas that vary in size, age, and management objectives.

Therefore, in order to achieve that goal, their botanists are responsible for monitoring and observing the forest. For example, they have noticed that part of the forest is flooded due to beaver activity, whereas previously a stream flowed through this area. This ecosystem change from a stream to a marsh is described as a natural flood by biologists. These periodic floods create diverse habitats, support a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic species, recycle nutrients, and maintain the forest’s ecological resilience, demonstrating that such fluctuations are an essential part of a healthy, undisturbed ecosystem. Unfortunately, they are also witnessing drastic ecosystem changes due to industrial and agricultural activity within Lithuanian forests.

The newly protected plots also provide ideal terrain for scientists to explore and collaborate between research laboratories. Zoologists at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre can thus observe the fauna and flora, building a database to study the long-term evolution of insects and fungi. In the Moniškis primary forest north of Vilnius, researchers installed insect traps during the summer. 

Subsequently, biologists take over, collecting wood samples to extract DNA and attempting to capture some of the fungal DNA to understand which species contribute to decomposition. They are thus studying how insects, trees, and fungi create decomposition networks in this environment. They also want to promote the idea that dead wood is a very valuable forest resource, not a sign of disease. Zoologists from Vilnius University explains that it provides critical habitat for countless species, including insects, fungi, and cavity-nesting birds, and plays a key role in nutrient cycling and soil fertility. 

Motivating Lithuanians to protect forests

The Lithuanian population has the opportunity to contribute financially to the purchase of forest plots. For example, through the national bottle recycling company, USAD, which has been offering the option of donating bottle deposit money to this project at a rate of 10 cents per bottle. 10 bottle deposits donated are equivalent to 1 square meter of forest saved.

According to Gintaras Varnas, the director of USAD, this project is far from straightforward, since few Lithuanians understand the need to preserve forests. However, the company was very pleasantly surprised that some consumers chose to donate their deposit money to USAD. To date, the director announced that they have collected 160,000 euros through this system. USAD explains that many consumers choose to donate their deposit anyway because they understand that by doing so they’re supporting environmental protection. Their contribution helps to finance forest‑land conservation projects, such as USAD’s ‘Swap Containers for Trash’ campaign, which uses donated funds to buy and protect forest areas.

Delegated Responsibility to Civil Society?

We know the major role of forests in reducing greenhouse gases. They are the largest carbon sink on the planet after the oceans, with primary forests absorbing more than usual forests. Indeed, primary forests play a crucial role as carbon sinks by storing vast amounts of carbon in their long-accumulated biomass and soils while continuing to absorb additional carbon through natural growth. That’s because primary forests contain large, old trees with long-accumulated biomass and deep, undisturbed soils, while managed or younger forests mostly consist of younger trees that haven’t yet built up such massive carbon stocks. But in Lithuania, as elsewhere, these areas are very difficult to protect due to economic pressures.

While the European Union through its ‘Forest 2030’ strategy  does urge stronger protection and restoration of forests, in practice many of Lithuania’s most valuable forest‑conservation efforts remain driven by civil society rather than by government leadership. According to Lithuanian forest‑management data, only ~1.3% of forest land is classified as a strict nature reserve, whereas over 75% is commercial forest. At the same time, the State Forest Service confirms that logging quotas continue to be fully utilized, even though independent assessments argue that some high-conservation-value and high-carbon forests are still not adequately protected.

Ultimately, safeguarding Lithuania’s remaining primary and high-value forests is not just an environmental obligation but a critical climate imperative. One that demands decisive policy action from the national government equal to the scale and urgency of the crisis, and without solely relying on civil society expertise and  involvement.