The Melnalkšņu Dumbrājs Boardwalk in Ķemeri National Park Will Be Closed for Improvements

The Nature Conservation Agency informs that from 19 to 22 February, the Melnalkšņu Dumbrājs boardwalk, located in Ķemeri near the “Meža māja” Nature Education and Information Centre, will be closed to visitors.

The boardwalk will be inaccessible to visitors so that, with the safety of nature tourists in mind, dangerous tree branches can be pruned and an anti-slip mesh can be installed under suitable conditions.

The boardwalk is 500 m long. During a short walk, it invites visitors to explore a wet broadleaf forest—a black alder swamp forest on the banks of the Vēršupīte. To an attentive observer, the swamp forest is a world full of discoveries in every season. It is captivating in spring and early summer, when colourful spring flowers bloom in the swamp forest and woodland birds can be seen and heard everywhere. Summer is also enchanting, when the swamp forest becomes a shady, green realm full of life and mystery. In autumn, the herbaceous plants gradually turn yellow, while the diversity of mosses and fungi stands out against the bare tree trunks. Winter, too, has its charms, when snow covers the damp hollows and the frozen river, marked with patterns of animal tracks. Almost all woodpecker species found in Latvia consider the swamp forest a suitable habitat, including the park’s symbol—the white-backed woodpecker.