1. Case-study No. & Title:
189. ‘The Livonian Coast’ - The development of Livs’ settlement areas in Latvia (since 1991).

Keywords

2. Author information
2.1 Author’s Name
Svetlana Ryzhakova

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact Details
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
Russian Academy of Sciences
Leninsky prospekt 32-a
Moscow 117334
Russia

Tel./fax: (095) 938-5941
E-mail: lana@mega.ru

2.3 Date recorded
10/12/2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:
Creation of the national-cultural park "The Livonian Coast", to become a state-protected territory. The aim is to support the ethno-cultural and regional development of the region that is home to the Livs. Initially established by the local government, the park has been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment and for Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia since 1995. The status of a park to some extent serves to perform the function of local self-government and provides a focal point for the cultural life of the Livonian community

3.2 Location:
"The Livonian Coast" stretches across two districts of the province of North Kurzeme (Ventspils and Talsa districts). It is divided into five okrug (Roya, the Kolka, Dundaga, Antze, Targale). Its administrative centre, "The Livonian House", is located in the village of Mazirbe.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
The target group of this good practice is the Livonian community as a whole and especially the population of the fishing villages situated in the above-mentioned area, namely: Melnsils, Kolka, Vajda, Saungs, Pitrags, Koshrags, Mazirbe, Sikrags, Jauntziems, Lielirbe, Mikeltornis.

3.4 Major Actors Involved

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors
Necessary means come from the state budget, from the local self-governments of Ventspils and Talsa districts, from the G. Soros Foundation, and The Latvian Fund of Capital of Culture.

3.6 Timeframe
The initiative was first proposed in 1989, it was launched and put into practice in 1991 and is expected to continue indefinitely

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy
This initiative is in conformity with national legislation.

4. Good Practice Description
On the 4th of February 1991, the Council of Ministers of the Latvian Republic proclaimed the creation of a "historical and cultural territory especially protected by the State: the Livonian Coast", with an area of about 28,000 hectares, including parts of two districts of the province of North Kurzeme (the Ventspils and the Talsa) in its five okrug (the Roya, the Kolka, the Dundaga, the Antze, the Targale).

The Livonian Coast is a narrow belt of land between the Riga bay and the open sea between Gipka and Ovisha, the Blue Mountains separates the whole area from the rest of Kurzeme. The mountains bordering the seashore are an ethno-cultural symbol for the natives and, at the same time, the ethno-cultural border between the territories occupied by Livs and those occupied by Latvians.

The target group of this good practice is the Livonian minority as a whole and especially the population of the fishing villages Melnsils, Kolka, Vajda, Saungs, Pitrags, Koshrags, Mazirbe, Sikrags, Jauntziems, Lielirbe, Mikeltornis. In these villages some features of Livonian traditional culture have survived, the population size is about 1600.

The "Livonian Coast" is the second officially registered organisation representing Livs in Latvia, the other being the Livonian Union, which existed in the 1920s-30s and was re-established on 26 November 1988.

The "Livonian Coast", originally created under the jurisdiction of the Deputies’ Council of the Talsinsk district, is now is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment and for Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. An important role for the institution-building of this organisation has been played and is currently played by the Livonian Union.

The first written evidence about Livs in this area date back to the 14th century. A specific Livonian economic and cultural way of life characterised the territory. In the 17th century in Sikrage there was a port, warehouses, a church and a pastor’s house. Livs built ships and went fishing on the open sea. In Girke and later in Mazirbe there was a naval school. As late as the first half of the 20th century there were 16 fishing villages with a mono-ethnic Livonian population.

During the 1920s and 1930s the national and cultural movement for rebirth of the Livonian community obtained official recognition. After a long period of repression that began in the 1940s, such a movement was rekindled and received recognition in the late 1980s.

The major problem for the survival of Livs as separate community is their demographic decline and the process of assimilation to which they have been subjected for four decades. Currently, among the 200 Livs that are officially registered, there are fewer than 10 individuals who have been speaking Livonian since childhood. Recently a Finnish team filmed a documentary about Paulinia Klavinia, the foremost expert on the Livonian language, tellingly titled "The nation of 10 persons". Today, after all the tragic events affecting the Livs of Kurzeme during and after World War II only about 50 Livs are settled in the area of the "Livonian Coast".

The "Livonian Coast" is unique for it includes natural as well as cultural-historical values, and for its peculiar organisation. As its director Edgar Silis affirms, the protection of natural and cultural-historical environments goes hand in hand with the preservation of the coast as an inhabited zone. Moreover the idea behind the park is the new concept of environmental protection by way of development rather than conservation. Since the main goal of this initiative is regional development, the functions of the Park are the same as those of the local self-government.

The main task of the park is to preserve the peculiarities of the Livonian way of life such as language, culture, environment, but also to help strengthen their community. The ambition is to ensure favourable conditions so that the coast could again become a area attractive for people to return to and live in on a permanent basis.

During the first period of its functioning as a coastal reserve the "Livonian Coast" organized and gave financial support to the rebirth of the fishing and the woodworking industry. Later, since 1995-96, financial support has been directed at activities aimed at cultural development. Local Livonian elementary schools were re-established in Mazirbe and Melnsile, circles for the study of Livonian were set up in Kolka, Mazirbe and Ventspils. Studying and teaching the Livonian language it is currently one of the priorities of the "Livonian Coast".