Citizens may, using e-services and electronically available information resources, familiarise themselves with useful information in the Cadastre, the Land Register and special thematic cards at any convenient time and place for themselves.

In order to receive the current cadastre text data regarding his or her immovable properties:

1. using a free e-service My data in the Cadastre;

1. by writing an application, by signing with a secure  electronic signatureand sending to the SLS  e-address or to pasts@vzd.gov.lv;
2. on-site at the SLS;
3. or the State Land Service (SLS) data publishing and e-services portal (Kadastrs.lv).

Using the SLS data publishing and e-service portal (Kadastrs.lv) you can view information not only about the properties that you own, but throughout the territory of Latvia. The SLS shall prepare information from available up-to-date data containing:

• data on objects belonging to the person,
• spatial data on land and buildings which are included in the composition of immovable property or are a joint property object attached to an apartment property, on buildings which are not part of any immovable property, as well as on encumbrance, according to For the Law on Protection Bars, The Law on Specially Protected Nature Areas, rules on the establishment and management of micro-reserves, The Law on the Protection of Cultural Monuments etc.

The following services are also available free of Kadastrs.lv:

• Historical cadastral value;
• Creating data selections;
• Download geospatial data;
• Thematic cards.

In order to receive information free of charge regarding the immovable properties, property corroborations recorded in the Land Register and to view the computerised Land Register of the immovable property, visit the sites of the State Unified Computerised Land Register www.zemesgramata.lv the “My Data” section.

If you want to find out about the permitted use of real estate owned by you according to the spatial plan or to be in a case course regarding planning topics in the area of interest to you, use the National Unified Geospatial Information Portal Geolatvija.lv, under the heading “Spatial development planning”, where text and geospatial information on all spatial planning documents are available together, as well as information on the planning documents in the public consultation.

More about the portal Geolatvija.lv for opportunities, read in the life situation Participation in public administration and public processes. For information you're interested in, use the search options provided by the portal:

• indicating the point on the map;
• searching by address;
• looking after the cadastre designation of the unit of land.

Cutting and maintenance

If you have land registered as agricultural land and want to remove a tree or scrub from it, then the trees must be felled in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 309 of 2 May 2012. Regulations regarding Tree Felling outside the forest paragraph 3. A permit for felling from the State Forest Service regarding such overgrown areas is not necessary. There is also no need for authorisation or harmonisation to cut trees with a strain average of less than 20 centimetres in the growing agricultural land, as well as for felling fruit trees and trees which pose a direct threat to human health and life if photofixation has been carried out before.

A local government permit shall be required if the trees are intended to be felled outside forest land located:

• the city and village area;
• in a specially protected nature area, with the exception of the protected landscape area and the biosphere reserve of North Waze and the neutral zone of specially protected nature areas;
• the territory in which cultural monuments are located and the protection zone thereof;
• park;
• the cemetery;
• in an alley;
• along national and municipal roads;
• in the protection zone of water bodies;
• In the protection zone of the coasts of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga;
• and in other cases laid down in that provision in point 4.

The owner of agricultural land is entitled to cut scrubs, but if the bush is made up of trees and it conforms to forest definition, then it's the Forest Law Object, which is supervised by State Forest Service, in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 935 Regulations regarding Tree Felling in the woods.

If you are not sure, and in order to avoid potential risks, you should consult your local authority about the planned action. The municipality or in nearby forestry.

If the tree has reached the size of the tree, the felling of such wood shall be permitted if it has become dangerous and a permit of the Nature Protection Board has been obtained. More detailed information on and management of wood is available at the management of nature protection.

Limiting invasive plant species

If there is a plot of land in your ownership or possession, Your responsibility it is to limit the distribution of invasive plant species that are not representative to Latvia's nature, which threaten local species and their habitats, cause economic damage or damage to human health and the environment, namely to destroy and prevent the spread of invasive species plants if they have started to grow in your property. Cabinet Regulation No. 559 of 14 July 2008 "The invasive plant species – the hogweed Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden – Species" The restriction of the spread of the invasive plant species, Sosnovska hogweed, shall be determined separately.

Plant Protection Law limiting and identifying the prevalence of invasive plant species -18. Article¹, third paragraph it shall be stipulated that the growing of invasive plant species is prohibited in Latvia, and the land owner or possessor has a duty to destroy the plants of these invasive species if they have spread to the land under his or her ownership or possession.

Information on invasive species whose distribution would need to be limited may be obtained DAP information material.

Agricultural land not cultivated

Landowners have an obligation to ensure land use according to those highlighted in the land borders plan and on the portal Kadastrs.lv registered uses of land. The fact that the land is overgrown with trees and shrubs means that it has not been properly managed and has been transformed into another use of land.

Land owners have a number of options for further action (according to local authorities spatial planning conditions):

1. cleaning the overgrown land from the crop and managing it as agricultural land;
2. to carry out an inventory of the growing forest, further managing it as a forest or plantation forest;
3. targeted forest-growing or plantation forest, by submitting an overview of the SFS on forest breeding. It is possible to submit the report electronically by signing it with a secure  electronic signature and by sending, using  e-address or to pasts@vmd.gov.lv.

it may be prohibited to change the land use category, thus, in situations where the owner wishes to change land management in protected nature areas, it is recommended to contact Management of nature protection and to find out if there are any restrictions.

The land survey shall be carried out on areas which, according to the information of the State Land Service, are at least 1 ha by type of land use.

Agricultural landowners who bought land after 1 November 2014 but have not started production within three years shall have administrative responsibility depending on whether the land had been applied for for the single area payment prior to its purchase and whether the natural or legal person was responsible.

For more information on surveying agricultural land on the RSS site.

The forest owner is obliged to carry out a first-time forest inventory and to submit its data Forestry of the State Forest Service (VMD). Forest inventory shall be carried out by persons certified in the field of forest inventory for which data can be obtained on the SFS site.

The forest owner shall inform the State Forest Service each year by 1 February regarding the forest-friendly activity performed in the previous calendar year, if felling of trees, grooming of young stands, forest renewal or forest rearing has been performed in the forest property. The information may be submitted by:

• in the form of an electronic document, by signing an application with certainty  electronic signature and by sending, using  e-address or to pasts@vmd.gov.lv
• via mail;
• on-site in any SFS in forestry.

You can find sample forms on the SFS site.

Deforestation

The felling of trees in the forest shall be subject to a statement which the forest owner may receive:

• online State register of forests, if the forest owner has an agreement with the Service regarding the online use of the information system - State Forest Register;
• by submitting an application with a secure electronic signature in the form of a signed document, sending it to  e-address;
• by submitting the application via mail and sending it to the designated forestry postal address;
• submitting an application to the forestry sector selected on-site;
• by submitting an application with a secure electronic signature in the form of a signed document, sending it to the e-mail address of the selected forestry office.

A statement shall be issued if a submission of the forest owner has been received and the submitted activity conforms to the requirements of regulatory enactments.

Felling of trees in the forest may be carried out using several permitted felling types:

• Main felling - for harvesting the main harvests of wood in a forest stand after reaching the age of the main felling or the average of the main felling.
• Treatment felling - improvement of the composition of the forest stand, the residual forest stands for improving tree growth conditions and the state of health of the forest stand.
• Sanitary felling - for the felling of forest diseases, pests, animals or other damaged, dry, wind-blown and broken trees.
• Reconstructive felling - felling unproductive forest stands in accordance with the procedures specified in regulatory enactments.
• Other felling - the type of felling used if felling is necessary for the establishment and maintenance of forest infrastructure and border stiffs, the harvesting of dangerous trees, the preservation of natural values, landscape formation, the performance of measures for the management of species and habitats.

The forest owner must inform the WMD of the forestry activity carried out in his forest by 1 February each year by submittingoverview:

• with reliable   electronic signature sign and send to  e-address or to mvmd@vmd.gov.lv;
• in the presence of one of the forestry or electronically signed with a secure   electronic signature;
• send by mail.

The report must be submitted for the following activities:

• with regard to forest regeneration;
• with regard to forest cultivation;
• on grooming of young stands;
• about felling trees.

Restocking and regrowing the forest

The obligation of the forest owner, after the effects of felling or other factors, shall be to restore the forest stand, as well as to ensure the maintenance of the renewed or reared forest stand. Available on the SFS website forest renewal rules the requirements prescribe both the time-limits for forest renewal and the procedures by which the forest is to be restored, while the species of trees recommended for this purpose are referred to in List of tree species to be used for forest renewal and forest rearing which provides for the rehabilitation of the forest with five main, economically usable species of wood: birch, pine, spruce, aspen and baltalksy. The forest owner shall perform forest reconstruction work and shall notify the State Forest Service of the progress made. About rebuilding the forest, read more on the SFS site.

Compensation for forest owners for restrictions on economic activity

Land owners whose assets are located in a specially protected nature territory or in a micro-reserve and, consequently, are subject to restrictions on economic activity shall be entitled to compensation for the unobtained property benefit which they cannot obtain due to restrictions on economic activity.

Compensation is provided for in the Law "On compensation for restrictions on economic activity in protected areas", which provides for two types of compensation:

• remuneration for restrictions on forestry activity; or
• land repurchases.

For more compensation and activities in specially protected nature areas and micro-reserves, read the Natural Protection Authorities on the website.

Estate Tax Payment

You may pay a real estate tax on your or other person's property recorded in the Land Register, including agricultural land:

1. using an e-service Real Estate Tax Pay Online.

Real estate tax shall not be subject to:

• land in specially protected nature areas in which economic activity is prohibited by law;
• buildings, engineering structures and land used for the protection of nature in specially protected nature areas, occupied by renewed or reared forest stands (young stands);

and there are others exceptions.

Area payments

Area payments shall constitute annual financial support for farmers or forest owners. Any natural or legal person shall be entitled to a financial contribution from the State and the European Union which may be received for each hectare managed by agricultural land or forest land. Payments may be made if the farmer fulfils all the conditions for receiving the aid, the main of which is that the land is managed and maintained. For area payments, read more on the RSS site.

Power line protection zones, an easement path and many other burdens reduce the cadastral value of real estate. If there is a lower cadastral value, the real estate tax shall also be reduced accordingly. In order to ascertain the encumbrances registered in the Cadastre and the areas occupied by them, the owner of the immovable property may:

1. using a free e-service My data in the cadastre;

1. by writing an application, by signing with a secure  digital signature and sending to the SLS  e-address or to pasts@vzd.gov.lv;
2. on-site at the SLS;
3. or the State Land Service (SLS) data publishing and e-services portal (Kadastrs.lv).

More details of the burdens can be searched for amelioration in cadastre and in the nature data management system “Ozols”, where interactive maps are available, and Encircled Territories Information System (ATIS).

It is the responsibility of each landowner to know and also to maintain his or her own ownership borders of units of land. The land property starts and ends where it is marked with border marks in the area. In order to avoid disputes or even judicial proceedings with the owner of the adjacent land, it is necessary to know exactly where the property borders are, so where the right of action ends. Failure to comply with borders can also have consequences such as recovering losses, such as trees felled in foreign ownership.

If the border marks have been destroyed or have disappeared over time, the owner shall refer to the ground in the cadastral survey to a certified surveyor with a request for border surveys or border renewal.

The measuring officer may:

• to evaluate the documents of the cadastral survey of land;
• to clarify the compatibility of the boundary in the area with the plan, the Land Border Survey/Determination Act;
• perform an evaluation of the results obtained in the border survey and survey of the unit of land in order to comply with the requirements of regulatory enactments;
• to draw up an opinion on the findings;
• take a decision on the direction of the work of the cadastral survey of land and, if necessary, on solutions in specific situations.

The State Land Service (SLS)

The National Courts Administration (NCA)

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MEPRD)

The State Forest Service (SFS)

The State Regional Development Agency (SRDA)

The Nature Conservation Agency (NCA)

The Ministry of Agriculture (MA)

Construction of a private house

Maintenance of residential buildings and premises

Purchase and sale of real estate