Lithuania - Behind the Op

Some of you may or may not be aware that I am currently deployed on Operations in the Baltic state of Lithuania. My task here from the Royal Air Force (RAF) perspective, is to tell the stories of what people here do for the Air Force and for Operation Azotize and you can see some of my work by following my facebook page, or the RAF facebook page. However, when I'm done doing that, the photographer in me wants to do more and show more, so I thought that I would document my time here and some of the more interesting points about Lithuania and being on Ops out here, if nothing else it will keep me sane. 

So I will be writing posts on how it's going out here and photographs I take for me and not for the RAF.

Todays pictures are of trees. A good friend of mine once commented on one of my grandfathers photographs of a tree by saying, "I love trees!" We all laughed at the time and thought the rather peculiar exclamation for his love of trees rather hilarious, but out here in Lithuania, they really do Love trees!

              

                          

                             Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick

Lithuania's forests cover a third of the country and are one of its main assets and main exports, which explains why trees are extremely important to this nation. The amount of forests are growing year on year, as they grow more trees than they cut down and in 2012 a study by Yale University in the United States, showed that Lithuania is top of 132 countries in preserving its forests, thus not only helping it's own economy and infrastructure, but also helping planet earth in reducing harmful carbon dioxide. 

                             

                         

                             Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick

Lithuania's forests are only growing and the country is all the more beautiful for it. The landscape here is very luscious and green with crops and trees and Lithuania is a very agricultural land. The world could take a leaf out of the book of this small state in Eastern Europe and look after its natural resources. The trees here don't just add to the countries economy, but to its natural surroundings by improving water supply, stopping the erosion of soil and making the country a very beautiful place to visit, full of varied wildlife. 

So that's my first post on Lithuania behind the Op. I want to share with you some of the lesser known facts about this country which, let's face it, get's quite a lot of stick and has quite a stigma attached to it back in the UK. Hopefully I can show it off in a good light.

Hope you enjoyed reding it, please leave comments, share it and follow me on facebook - Daniel Herrick Pictures; on Twitter - @DanielHerrick; and on Instagram @danielherrickpictures.

Thank you for reading

                           

                              Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick

All images on this post were taken using the iPhone 4S and the Hipstamatic app.