ESTONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 2009

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3.3. Forestry
The diversity, extent and importance of the values that
forests offer to humanity have been acknowledged in a
number of international forums. The principles set forth
in the Statement of Principles of Forests declaration of the
UN Conference on the Environment and Development
(UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 can be considered
to be first principles of sustainable management and
conservation of forests to be recognized worldwide.
Of the regional efforts that continued where the Rio
conference left off, the Ministerial Conference on the
Protection of Forests in Europe is the most important.
Principles for the sustainable management of forests, along
with the measures for implementing them, were agreed
upon at the level of ministers responsible for forestry.
According to the Estonian Forestry Policy D (1997),
Estonian forests have great natural and ecological value.
On the other hand, the basis of forest policy is the understanding
that the Estonian forestry sector has strong
potential for generating material and social benefits
through income-earning activity and the use of forestry
must be promoted to the extent that other benefits and
virtues such as environmental ones do not suffer. The
Estonian forestry policy, approved by the Government
of the Republic and the Riigikogu, reflects the aspirations
to comply with international obligations. The
forestry development plan implements the principles
of resolutions adopted by the Ministerial Conference for
the Protection of Forests in Europe. In addition, there
has been an attempt to follow the recommendations set
forth in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s corresponding
basic document (National Forest Programmes;
the Concept and its Potential).
The strategic objectives for forestry are derived from
the Estonian forestry development plan up to 2010. It
stipulates that the productivity, renewal capacity and
vitality of forests must be preserved to ensure the longand
short-term production of benefits from forests. The
preservation of all of the current elements of biological
diversity in Estonian forests must also be guaranteed.
3.3.1. Forest area and growing stocks
Total forested area and growing stock has increased
significantly in the last half-century (figure 3.10). Forest
encompasses about one-half of Estonia’s territory – taking
into account Estonia’s total area, forest makes up around
49%; without Lake Peipsi included, forest accounts for
50,6% of Estonia. The primary reasons for the increase
in forest area and growing stock are the afforestation of
land no longer used in agriculture and drainage of wetlands
(1960–1980). In addition forest area and growing
stock data have increased due to changes in the methods
used to inventory forests. Forest resources data have
been released since 1999 on the basis of National Forest
Inventory data. Data in years past were based on data
from forest management planning (stand-wise forest
inventory).
5
250
4
3
forest land area, millions of hectares
growing stock, 100 million m 3
average volume per ha
200
150
2
100
1
50
0
0
Figure 3.10. Forest area and growing stock volume and change in the volume per hectares of stands.
Data: 1958–1994 – stand-wise forest inventories, National Forest Inventory. Centre for Forest Protection and Siviculture.
D
Eesti Metsapoliitika (Estonian Forestry Policy) RTI, 26.06.1997, 47, 768. http://www.riigiteataja.ee/ert/act.jsp?id=73663
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