Aknīste Parish () is a sparsely settled rural jurisdiction at the southern margin of

Jēkabpils Municipality Jēkabpils Municipality () is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Ābeļi Parish, Dignāja Parish, Dunava Parish, Kalna Parish, Leimaņi Parish, Rubene Parish and Zasa Parish. During the Adm ...

in the historical region of

Selonia Selonia (; ), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia () as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuania. Its main city and cultural ce ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. It was constituted on 10 February 2010, when the countryside around the small town of Aknīste was separated as a distinct local authority under amendments to Latvia’s territorial-administration law. The parish straddles rolling farmland on the upper reaches of the Dienvidsusēja River, part of the Augšdaugava upland, and abuts the Lithuanian border to the south. According to the Central Statistical Bureau, the parish had 341 permanent residents on 1 January 2024—barely 2.7 inhabitants per km²—concentrated in the five listed villages of Mežaraupi, Navicki, Pasusēja, Susēja and Vilkupe. Low population density and gently undulating

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

favour mixed dairy-and-

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

farming, while cut-over

peatland A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

s supply horticultural substrate to a processing plant authorised in the parish's industrial zone. Aknīste hosts three nationally protected nature sites: the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

reserve Baltmuižas purvs, a raised-

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

complex bordering parish peat workings; the geological spring group Vecmelderu avoti on a side valley of the Dienvidsusēja; and the glacial‐erratic Dainu akmens in Gārsene park. Management guidelines in the municipal plan prohibit further drainage or extraction within the reserve and restrict forestry near the springs, helping to safeguard the parish's boreal bog, wet-forest and spring habitats as well as nesting

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

and

lesser spotted eagle The lesser spotted eagle (''Clanga pomarina'') is a large Eastern European bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavy-set Ac ...

populations.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akniste parish Parishes in Jēkabpils Municipality Selonia