6. 27,4 8,2 At the beginning of the 20th century, the area of forests in Estonia was approximately one million ha, of which state forest accounted for 100,000 ha <strong>and</strong> private forest for 900,000 ha. Private forests were divided according to whether it belonged to a large owner (manors, 900,000 ha) or a small owner (farmers). When l<strong>and</strong> reform was launched at the beginning of Estonia's independence in 1920, the former manor l<strong>and</strong>s chiefly remained property of the state: the area of state forests was 900,000 ha <strong>and</strong> that of private forests was 100,000 ha. A change in ownership brought about a change in l<strong>and</strong> use. By 1940 the area of forest l<strong>and</strong> had increased to 1.4 million ha on account of farm l<strong>and</strong>s. The area of forests continued to grow during the Soviet occupation, <strong>and</strong> by the beginning of the 1990s, the area of forests amounted to 2.2 million ha. About 200,000 ha of the new forests have been planted, the rest have grown naturally. State forests have been managed for over a hundred years; private forests have only been managed in part. Despite this, both types of forests are dominated by coniferous trees, whose share is 66.9% in state forests <strong>and</strong> 53.1% in private forests. Age structure of forests is uneven; many spruce forests are ready for cutting The presently existing natural forests began to grow 70–80 years ago, which is reflected in the uneven age structure of the forests. More than 60% of private Division of forest stock in private forests 3,2 0,7 1,8 27,7 31 Division of forest stockin state forests 3,1 0,4 28,1 47,3 0,3 1,4 19,2 pine spruce black alder grey alder birch aspen others spruce forests are older than 60 years; the area of mature spruce forests may be up to 170,000 ha. Of these, 100,000 ha with a total stock of 35 million m 3 urgently need cutting. A national forestry development plan has been prepared. Estonia joined forest protection programmes in the 1990s. The Pan-European forest protection programme is the most important one for Estonia. Pursuant to the Estonian Forest Act, forestry is directed by the state through the forestry development plan. The development plan is prepared every 10 years <strong>and</strong> is subject to the approval of the Riigikogu. The state trains its forestry specialists. The provision of higher education in the area of forestry began in Tartu in 1920. Forest management, forest <strong>industry</strong>, the use <strong>and</strong> protection of natural resources can be studied at the Estonian Agricultural University. Vocational education in forestry has been provided by the Luua Forestry School since 1948 <strong>and</strong> by Tihemetsa Technical School since 1995. Estonian timber <strong>industry</strong> is developing rapidly The scope of forest cutting has multiplied over the last ten years, <strong>and</strong> timber <strong>industry</strong> has developed together with it. The development of the forestry <strong>and</strong> timber <strong>industry</strong> has been facilitated by the availability of forests; an opportunity to earn from the export of raw material, large investments, a favourable customs regime, the development of enterprise, <strong>and</strong> the development of experience. Forest cutting has transferred to machine cutting; its relative share is 25–33%. Mechanical value-adding processing of timber presently dominates, but chemical value-adding would be more purposeful. Mechanical value-adding processing consists of cutting, drying of sawn timber, planing, <strong>and</strong> the manufacture of semi-finished products <strong>and</strong> various timber boards. The domestic cellulose production should be developed. Presently, the Kehra paper factory is the only paper manufacturing plant in Estonia, <strong>and</strong> uses only 5% of the suitable raw material. A significant part of timber <strong>and</strong> timber products are exported. Export of timber <strong>and</strong> timber products has increased every year <strong>and</strong> accounted for 15% of the total exports in 1997. Estonian furniture manufacturers have certain competitive advantages, owing to cheap timber, cheap labour, <strong>and</strong> the small need for capital investments due to the <strong>industry</strong> being largely based on manual labour. Furniture making accounts for 7% of the country's industrial output, <strong>and</strong> the majority of furniture made in Estonia (70%) is exported. Timber processing yields 8% <strong>and</strong> cellulose <strong>and</strong> paper production accounts for 1% of Estonia's industrial output. 24
7. Fishing is an important <strong>industry</strong> for Estonia Since ancient times, fishing has been a vitally important activity for Estonians. Fisheries began to develop more rapidly in the 18 th century when dem<strong>and</strong> for Tallinn sprats increased on the Russian market. There were about 40 sprat processing enterprises in Estonia prior to WWI; their total output was 7 million cans of sprats per year. 25
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