The importance of forests is reflected in four key aspects:
- economic – forests as a source of income;
- social – forests as a provider of employment and recreation;
- ecological – forests as a maintainer of biodiversity;
- cultural – forests as part of Estonian culture;
- sustainable forestry – forest management in a way that ensures their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration, vitality and potential to fulfil all their functions now and in the future, without harming other ecosystems;
- effective forest management – the efficient production and use of all forest-related benefits over both the short and long term.
Estonia is a forest-rich country, with more than half of its land covered by forests. Over the past half-century, forest area and growing stock have increased significantly. Forest land accounts for 51.5% of Estonia’s total land area. The most common tree species are pine, birch and spruce.
Estonian forestry data
In Estonia, forestry data is collected in several ways to ensure data accuracy, comparability over time, quality and reliability. Forestry data is published in the forestry section of the Estonian Environmental Portal under Forest and Current Status of Forest Information.
The Environment Agency publishes an annual statistical summary of forests, offering a comprehensive overview of the condition, use and changes in the forests of Estonia over time. Estonia introduced the Statistical Forest Inventory (SFI) in 1999. See the results of the SFI in the Estonian Environmental Portal: SFI page and the latest SFI 2023 report.
An annual summary of key insights from forestry data is published in the Estonian Environmental Review – Forest.
Forest inventory data of registered immovables commissioned by the state and other private forest owners are recorded in the state register for accounting of forest resource (forest register). The forest register also includes data on forest notices, forest protection expert assessments and reforestation expert assessments. See the map data of the forest register here: forest register.
Remote sensing methods are also being developed to use satellite and aerial measurements in forestry to prepare different forest maps and provide assessments. Remote sensing data provides a more general overview of the current state of forests and their changes. The maps are published in the Estonian Environmental Portal.
Forestry data in Estonia is collected and analysed by the Environment Agency, which gathers information from different state agencies and private companies, verifies its accuracy and stores it in national databases for processing and analysis. Additionally, the data is submitted annually to Statistics Estonia.
Forests – our greatest natural and economic asset
The purposeful and prudent use of forests is a key driver of social development. Diverse forest communities serve as vital habitats for a large number of species. Wood from forests is used as a raw material for construction materials, industrial products and consumer goods, and is also an increasingly important source of renewable energy. Forests play a crucial role in the carbon cycle, capturing carbon from the atmosphere in woody biomass and forest soil. The use of wood products helps extend the carbon sequestration period, while using wood fuels reduces the reliance on fossil fuels.
In terms of forest cover, we are ranked fifth in Europe, behind only Finland, Sweden, Montenegro and Slovenia. A quarter of Estonian forests are under different protection regimes. In terms of the proportion of protected forests, Estonia ranks 10th in Europe, behind several Central European countries where forests are scarce and forestry is not profit-driven. We are significantly ahead of our neighbouring countries in forest protection. For example, 19.5% of forests are protected in Latvia, 18.7% in Lithuania, 12.3% in Sweden, 10.7% in Russia and 7.2% in Finland.
Reforestation
The last decade has seen an increase in reforestation efforts. Planting is the primary method of reforestation, with an average of 5,900 hectares planted annually. Over the past three years, the volume of reforestation work has increased at a faster rate than before. Between 2010 and 2012, on average, forest planting was carried out on 7,500 hectares and forest seeding on 1,200 hectares per year. There has also been an increase in the contribution to natural forest regeneration through soil mineralisation. Estonian forests naturally regenerate very well.
Forest management
Forest management must also consider the needs of soil, water and atmospheric air protection. Forests are linked to 35,000 jobs in the forestry sector as well as many jobs in the tourism, sports, transport, hunting and other sectors.
In Estonia, the long-term sustainable goal is to use 12–15 million cubic metres of timer annually, matching the estimated annual growth of wood in the forests. The use of forests within the limits of increment ensures a continuous income for society while preserving their capacity to provide economic, social, environmental and cultural benefits.
An important indicator for assessing the sustainability of forest management is the ratio of the prescribed cut to the annual increment of stem wood. If, over the long term, more wood is cut than grows, it threatens both forest biodiversity and the sustainability of timber supply. If less wood is used, it indicates inefficient use of the accumulated wood resources.
Hunting
Hunting is closely tied to land management and nature conservation. Like all natural resource use, hunting must also be sustainable. The Hunting Act, adopted in 2013, changed the bases for game management, replacing the previous focus on habitat quality assessment with observing the status of game populations.
When planning hunting activities, it is important to ensure that there is no excessive focus on increasing the population of popular hunting species (eg wild boar), while overlooking their negative impact on the ecological balance.
Last updated: 10.02.2025
