Hidden European Values in Kleisti – a Forest Clean‑up Flash Action

Kleisti is home to the largest forest in Riga, yet few people know that it is a planted forest, developed over 50 years by the Kleisti forest ranger and rescuer of Jews, Pēteris Kupšis (1906–1999). 

On Europe Day, 9 May, the European Climate Pact in Latvia, together with Pact Ambassadors Mārtiņš Eņģelis and Agita Baltbārde, aims to highlight the little‑known contribution of Pēteris Kupšis as a symbol of European green and social values in one of Riga’s most important natural areas—by organising an informational forest clean‑up flash action and picnic in Kleisti. 

On 9 May at 10.00 a.m., meeting at the memorial stone to Pēteris Kupšis on Apakšgrāvja Street, participants will walk through the beautiful Kleisti forest area and collect litter, while listening to stories about the life of Pēteris Kupšis and the development of the Kleisti forest. 

After the walk, a special “resource archaeology” activity is planned: the items collected in the forest will be analysed to determine what can be sorted and recycled, as well as when and how these objects may have ended up in Kleisti. 

Finally, the flash action will conclude with an environmentally friendly picnic!