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Development of the construction sector
Mining of construction raw materials
Reserves of construction raw materials
Quarry areas
Remediation of quarries
Natural resource tax imposed on the mining of construction raw materials
Development of the construction sector
The construction sector suffered a rapid decline at the
beginning of the 1990s during the economic transition. The minimum
was reached in 1993, when the added value in that sector of the
economy was five times lower than in 1991. Growth of the sector
has occurred only during the last five years.
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Mining of construction raw materials
The demand for local construction raw materials, and the
extraction rate, have grown alongside with the growth of the
construction sector. The amount of raw materials extracted for
construction has generally stabilised in recent years, and growth
has occurred in the mining of some minerals. The greatest demand
is for gravel, sand and dolomite, which are mainly used for road
construction and maintenance, as well as for the manufacture of
concrete products.
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Reserves of construction raw materials
The reserves of construction raw materials completely ensure
the present needs of the Latvian economy. At the present rates of
extraction, the reserves of dolomite, gypsum, sand and gravel are
sufficient to meet the demand for 2,000 years, clay for 6,000
years, and limestone for 11,000 years.
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Quarry areas
Construction raw materials in Latvia are mined only in open
quarries. The quarries are normally established for long-term (continuous
or periodic) mining of minerals. They have an impact on the
environment for the period of time ranging from several years to
tens of years. The total area of quarries in Latvia is about 6,000
ha or less than 0.1% of the territory.
The impact of quarries on the landscape and biodiversity is not
always unfavourable. Small quarries create unique habitats for
rare and protected plant and animal species. Sand quarries provide
a habitat for the natterjack Bufo calamita. Butterwort Pinguicula
vulgaris and bird's-eye Primula farinosa grow in old,
overgrown quarries. One of the two known locations for the bulrush
Scirpus setaceus is a quarry. Quarry slope faces are
suitable for nesting of the sand martin Riparia riparia.
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Remediation of quarries
To minimise the impact of quarries on nature, quarry
remediation (levelling, renewal of the topsoil layer,
afforestation, creation of quarry reservoirs, or other landscape
improvement actions) is required after mining of minerals has
ended. The area of remediated quarries rapidly grew in 2000, but
is still insufficient.
There are many quarries in Latvia which have been abandoned,
but which for several reasons have not underwent remediation.
Frequently, these quarries are used as waste dumps for municipal
waste.
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Natural resource tax imposed on the mining of construction raw materials
Since 1995 the natural resource tax is paid for the extraction
of construction raw materials. The tax rate for each resource may
differ depending on the type of use. It necessary to increase the
tax rate for construction raw materials, taking inflation into
account.
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