Deciding the future of Vidusburtnieks
The Vidusburtnieks (Middle Burtnieks) Nature Reserve is a newly established specially protected nature territory, which is in place since 2004. That could possibly be the reason why the name of the reserve is somewhat perplexing to local inhabitants: there is no similar name found among the old settlement names.  | | Editor of management plan | | J.Gailis and expert A.Urtāns | Deciding the future of Vidusburtnieks
The Vidusburtnieks (Middle Burtnieks) Nature Reserve is a newly established specially protected nature territory, which is in place since 2004. That could possibly be the reason why the name of the reserve is somewhat perplexing to local inhabitants: there is no similar name found among the old settlement names. Its creation was dictated by the sites location between the two largest rivers flowing into Lake Burtnieks Rūja and Seda. It could have just as well been called Divupe (Two Rivers), which would reflect the ancient culture and the rich Stone Age heritage of the Zvejnieku settlement. The largest part of the 1333ha included in the nature reserve is found in the Vecate municipality; yet, Sēļi and Jeru municipalities both host over 100 ha and 16 farms as well. Even though the area is sparsely populated, the vicinity of the lake has become a favored recreation and angling site. The nature reserve was formed here to preserve the relatively untouched natural ecosystems: floodplain meadows, woodland meadows, valuable oak-aspen-pine and pine-spruce forests, and ox-bows. Among the most noteworthy natural values are bird species such as corn crake and great snipe, the peculiar insect species hermit beetle; a number of other protected species of European importance are also found there. It is this nature diversity that triggered designation of  | | Floodplains of Rūja River | Vidusburtnieks a protected area of European importance - a Natura 2000 site. The area also boasts a remarkable cultural heritage: the Zvejnieki settlement at the Rūja estuary near Košķele has been inhabited for over two thousand years and today is one of the best studied archeological sites of the late Stone Age in the Baltics. In other words, the mighty Roman Empire was not established yet, while here people already sang, battled and made love. Extensive activities are planned here for the near future, and Zvejnieki could become one of the main tourism attractions in the entire region. All the future prospects for Vidusburtnieks Nature Reserve were compiled in one document the management plan, which was put up for discussion last week in Vecate. The management plan is developed by the Latvian Fund for Nature and financed through the LIFE-Nature project; it establishes a decade-long management guidelines and is mainly aimed at balancing nature conservation, tourism and economic interests that all converge in this one territory. Even though it only has an advisory role, the first changes could already be seen in a few years time. For instance, an extensive bush cutting initiative to restore meadows and subsequent mowing is  | | Border-ditch of Vidusburtnieks | | Nature Reserve near Lukstiņi meadow | planned for over 250ha in the floodplains of Seda and Rūja. Steps will also be taken to eliminate Hogweed, and to improve tourism and recreation infrastructure. A new leaflet on nature values of the Vidusburtnieks Nature Reserve along with several information boards will be made next year. Physical demarcation of the nature reserves borders will take place; planning for potential reestablishment of the natural water level fluctuations in Rūja and Seda floodplains will also be addressed. The Natura 2000 site Vidusburtnieks is divided into three zones: the regulated regime zone, nature reserve zone, and the landscape protection zone. More on that could be found in the section of the Floodplain meadow restoration project sites in the first draft of the management plan. | 
