Baiba Bekiša from the Nature Conservation Agency of Latvia was visiting the Lower Saxonian section of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve ‘Flusslandschaft Elbe’ (Elbe River Landscape) for five days in May 2013. The staff member of the Latvian Agency got a general overview and impression about the management of the riverine Biosphere Reserve and introduced the Latvian volunteer monitoring programme which is a tool for society involvement to different environmental topics. In this way, people become more aware about the natural values in their territory and with their help data can be obtained and analyzed further.

After an experienced volunteer of the German Biosphere Reserve had visited the Latvian Biosphere Reserve before, this reciprocal learning exchange exactly meets the needs of both the riverine Biosphre Reserve taling part in the EU-Project.