Life by the Lake: Lubana Region and Its People in History and Present

Abstract

This article is about the coexistence of people and the lake, about the consequences and responsibility of people interfering with the natural processes of nature. Part of the framework of this research was the governance process of surface water resources in Latvia, particularly public lakes, which was studied using a three-dimensional governance framing model of complementary dimensions of governance stakeholders, governance content, and governance instruments in order to determine how the lake is governed, and how it affects local culture and what role does culture have in the lake and public water governance. Lake Lubans was selected for this research, as it is Latvia’s largest lake, and its area contains an important Natura 2000 protected site – the Lubana Wetland complex, in addition to the fact that the region has been inhabited since the Neolithic era. Lake Lubans was discovered to be governed by several national institutions, led by the Nature Conservation Agency, as the lake is located in a protected area, with the Ministry of Agriculture being responsible for the governance of the lake dam system and control of farmland around the lake. The territory of the Lake Lubans wetlands was one of the first campgrounds of ancient people in Europe after the glaciers’ retreat, which also determines its importance in the history and culture of Latvia and Europe.

Lake governance is almost only focused on nature and environmental protection, with economic and social aspects needing to be considered, and residents and other stakeholders needing to be sufficiently involved in governance. Currently, their interests have yet to be considered. Altogether, lake governance also needs to be improved from its perspective. Lake Lubans and the Lubana Wetland complex have not had a mandatory governance plan since 2009, but the first is in development, again missing all governance dimensions mentioned above.

It was also found that nature communication and nature tourism are not only just potential lake/nature governance sectors but, if properly developed, would be valuable lake governance instruments, keeping stakeholders’ participation while supporting national organisations.