Editing Lithuania (section)

===Biodiversity and conservation===
{{Main|Fauna of Lithuania|Flora of Lithuania|Protected areas of Lithuania}}
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| image1 = Žadvainių ežeras.jpg
| image2 = Nida sand dunes (14573723178).jpg
| caption1 = Lithuanian flatlands with lakes, swamps and forests. Lithuania has thousands of lakes.
| caption2 = Sand dunes of the [[Curonian Spit]] near [[Nida, Lithuania|Nida]], which are the highest drifting sand dunes in Europe ([[UNESCO World Heritage Site]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Nida and The Curonian Spit, The Insider's Guide to Visiting |url=https://www.vanlifetribe.com/nida-guide-baltic-coast/ |website=VanLife Tribe |access-date=3 January 2019 |date=23 September 2016 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411032201/https://vanlifetribe.com/nida-guide-baltic-coast/}}</ref>
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After the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990, the ''Aplinkos apsaugos įstatymas'' (Environmental Protection Act) was adopted already in 1992. The law provided the foundations for regulating social relations in the field of environmental protection, established the basic rights and obligations of legal and natural persons in preserving the biodiversity inherent in Lithuania, ecological systems and the landscape.<ref>{{cite web|title=Aplinkos apsaugos įstatymas|url=https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/TAR.E2780B68DE62/vsPTFQpUEB|website=e-tar.lt|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=28 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428011804/https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/TAR.E2780B68DE62/vsPTFQpUEB|url-status=live}}</ref> Lithuania agreed to cut [[carbon emissions]] by at least 20% of 1990 levels by 2020 and by at least 40% by 2030, together with all European Union members. Also, by 2020 at least 20% (27% by 2030) of the country's total energy consumption should be from the [[renewable energy]] sources.<ref>{{cite web|title=EU climate action|url=https://ec.europa.eu/clima/citizens/eu_en|website=European Commission|access-date=27 April 2018|date=23 November 2016|archive-date=22 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522200534/https://ec.europa.eu/clima/citizens/eu_en|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, Lithuania introduced especially effective [[container deposit legislation]], which resulted in collecting 92% of all packagings in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Europa suskubo paskui Lietuvą: kuo skiriasi šalių užstato sistemos?|url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/europa-suskubo-paskui-lietuva-kuo-skiriasi-saliu-uzstato-sistemos-56-968940|website=15min.lt|access-date=9 May 2018|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623222136/https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/europa-suskubo-paskui-lietuva-kuo-skiriasi-saliu-uzstato-sistemos-56-968940|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lithuania does not have high mountains and its landscape is dominated by blooming meadows, dense forests and fertile fields of cereals. However, it stands out by the abundance of [[hillfort]]s, which previously had castles where the ancient Lithuanians burned altars for pagan gods.<ref name="gamta">{{cite web|title=Gamta|url=http://www.lithuania.travel/lt/objektai/gamta-/80|website=lithuania.travel|language=lt|access-date=7 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322151518/http://www.lithuania.travel/lt/objektai/gamta-/80|archive-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> Lithuania is a particularly watered region with more than 3,000 lakes, mostly in the northeast. The country is also drained by numerous rivers, most notably the longest [[Nemunas]].<ref name="gamta" /> Lithuania is home to two terrestrial ecoregions: [[Central European mixed forests]] and [[Sarmatic mixed forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}</ref>

Forest has long been one of the most important natural resources in Lithuania. Forests occupy one-third of the country's territory and timber-related industrial production accounts for almost 11% of industrial production in the country.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lietuvos gamtinė aplinka, būklė, procesai ir raida|date=2008|publisher=Aplinkos apsaugos agentūra|location=Vilnius|isbn=978-9955-815-27-3|page=167|url=http://files.gamta.lt/aaa/pranesimai/Lietuvos_gamtine_aplinka_bukle_procesai_ir_raida.pdf|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623222205/http://files.gamta.lt/aaa/pranesimai/Lietuvos_gamtine_aplinka_bukle_procesai_ir_raida.pdf}}</ref> Lithuania has five [[List of national parks in the Baltics|national park]]s,<ref>{{cite web|title=Lietuvos nacionaliniai parkai|url=https://aplinka.lt/lietuvos-nacionaliniai-parkai|website=aplinka.lt|access-date=27 April 2018|language=lt-LT|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623222205/https://aplinka.lt/lietuvos-nacionaliniai-parkai}}</ref> 30 [[List of regional parks of Lithuania|regional park]]s,<ref>{{cite web|title=Regioniniai parkai|url=http://www.vstt.lt/VI/index.php#r/13|website=vstt.lt|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=20 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020225309/http://www.vstt.lt/VI/index.php#r/13}}</ref> 402 [[nature reserve]]s,<ref>{{cite web|title=Draustiniai|url=http://www.vstt.lt/VI/index.php#r/10|website=vstt.lt|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=20 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020225309/http://www.vstt.lt/VI/index.php#r/10}}</ref> 6 [[strict nature reserve]]s,<ref>[https://www.protectedplanet.net/search?country=Lithuania&iucn_category=Ia&main=country Lithuania Ia.] ''Protected Planet''</ref> 668 state-protected natural heritage objects.<ref>{{cite web|title=Apie gamtos paveldo objektus|url=http://www.vstt.lt/VI/index.php#r/159|website=vstt.lt|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=20 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020225309/http://www.vstt.lt/VI/index.php#r/159}}</ref>
[[File:White Stork-Mindaugas Urbonas-1.jpg|thumb|The [[white stork]] is the national bird of Lithuania, which has the highest-density stork population in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Klimka|first1=Libertas|title=Kodėl gandras – nacionalinis paukštis?|url=http://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/nuomones/10/97041/libertas-klimka-kodel-gandras-nacionalinis-paukstis|website=LRT|date=26 March 2015|access-date=26 March 2015|language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Storks|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/lithuania/eastern-southern-lithuania/background/other-features/eaf58144-ae01-405e-b1bf-7dc3e3590743/a/nar/eaf58144-ae01-405e-b1bf-7dc3e3590743/360111|website=Lonelyplanet.com|access-date=5 May 2018}}</ref>]]
Lithuanian ecosystems include natural and semi-natural (forests, [[bog]]s, wetlands and meadows), and anthropogenic (agrarian and urban) ecosystems. Among natural ecosystems, forests are particularly important to Lithuania, covering 33% of the country's territory. [[Wetland]]s (raised bogs, [[fen]]s, transitional mires, etc.) cover 7.9% of the country, with 70% of wetlands having been lost due to drainage and peat extraction between 1960 and 1980. Changes in wetland plant communities resulted in the replacement of moss and grass communities by trees and shrubs, and fens not directly affected by land reclamation have become drier as a result of a drop in the water table. There are 29,000 rivers with a total length of 64,000&nbsp;km in Lithuania, the [[Nemunas River]] basin occupying 74% of the territory of the country. Due to the construction of dams, approximately 70% of spawning sites of potential [[Fish migration|catadromous]] fish species have disappeared. In some cases, river and lake ecosystems continue to be impacted by anthropogenic [[eutrophication]].<ref name="cbd">{{cite web|title=Lithuania – Biodiversity Facts|url=https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/default.shtml?country=lt#facts|website=cbd.int|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-date=25 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625190338/https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/default.shtml?country=lt#facts|url-status=live}}</ref>

Agricultural land comprises 54% of Lithuania's territory (roughly 70% of that is arable land and 30% meadows and pastures), approximately 400,000 ha of agricultural land is not farmed, and acts as an ecological niche for weeds and invasive plant species. Habitat deterioration is occurring in regions with very productive and expensive lands as crop areas are expanded. Currently, 18.9% of all plant species, including 1.87% of all known fungi species and 31% of all known species of lichens, are listed in the [[List of extinct and endangered species of Lithuania|Lithuanian Red Data Book]]. The list also contains 8% of all fish species.<ref name="cbd"/>

The wildlife populations have rebounded as the hunting became more restricted and urbanization allowed replanting forests (forests already tripled in size since their lows). Currently, Lithuania has approximately 250,000 larger wild animals or 5 per each square kilometre. The most prolific large wild animal in every part of Lithuania is the [[roe deer]], with 120,000 of them. They are followed by [[boar]]s (55,000). Other ungulates are the [[deer]] (~22,000), [[fallow-deer]] (~21,000) and the largest one: [[moose]] (~7,000). Among the Lithuanian predators, [[fox]]es are the most common (~27,000). [[Wolve]]s are, however, more ingrained into the mythology as there are just 800 in Lithuania. Even rarer are the [[lynx]]es (~200). The large animals mentioned above exclude the [[rabbit]], ~200,000 of which may live in the Lithuanian forests.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fauna of Lithuania|url=http://www.truelithuania.com/tag/fauna-of-lithuania|website=TrueLithuania.com|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623222334/http://www.truelithuania.com/tag/fauna-of-lithuania|url-status=live}}</ref>