Private forestry in Estonia · Private forestry in Estonia Jaanus Aun Foundation Private Forest...

Private forestry in EstoniaJaanus Aun

Foundation Private Forest Centre,

Member of the board

Estonia by land categories

Allikas: Keskkonnaministeerium www.envir.ee

2

FORESTLAND OWNERSHIP

47%

0,002

53%

Eramaa Munitsipaalmaa Riigimaa

PRIVATE FOREST OWNERS

112 922 forest owners own 1,066 mil ha of forestland

5 7525%

107 170 95%

Number of forest owners– legal persons and

individuals

5

377 747 35%

688 246 65%

Area of forestland – legalpersons and individuals

Source: Ministry of Environment (2015)

Private Forest Owners

Average size of property:

Legal persons 65,7 ha;

Individuals 6,4 ha

44,4 % of forest owners own less than 2 ha of forestland;

Only 0,5% own more than 100 ha

Ordinary forest owner: living far from property and having no forestry education

Private forest

7

Other owners

State forests are managed by State ForestManagement Centre(RMK), please visithttp://rmk.ee/en

Very little municipalforests

Very little forests ofchurches and congregations

Private forestry - rootsPrivate land ownership was dominant before expropriation in1940.

All land belonged to the

state during the Soviet era.

Ownership reform started

in 1991.

Two ways for re-creation of private ownership:restitution;

Privatisation

Free real estate market - companies have mainly purchased their forests from the market

Distribution of growing stock in private forest

Wood marketAnnual felling volume is about 10 mio scbm

Good domestic market for sawlogs - demand is higher thansupply.

Unstable market for pulpwood – little domestic market, most ofthe pulpwood is exported to Scandinavia. Domestic use is for theaspen and in modest amounts for pine and spruce

Energy wood –

developing sector

(rapidly rising pellet production

& new CHP-s), but current

market situation very

problematical

Challenges for private forestryForestry Development Plan:

To increase overall felling volume inEstonia (max. is 15 mio m3 a year)

To increase reforestation in privateforests (40% of clear-cut areas have to beregenerated)

Increase area of precommercialthinnings/cleanings and thinnings

In summary: we have to do more in our forests!

Measures to motivate forest owners

Forest owner makes decisions, need to motivate them:

Tax regulations

Forestry legislation – lessbureaucracy

A well-functioningsupport system

Private forestry organisations

Forest Owners

Forest Owner`s Associations

Estonian Private

Forest Union

Central Co-operative

United Forest Owners

Private

Forest

Centre

Estonian

Timbertrade

Center

Forest Owner`s AssociationsWhat could forest owner get from FOA:

Information and advice

Applying for subsidies from Private Forest Centre

Representation in local policy questions

Support in silvicultural activities

Procurement of seedlings

Joint wood saleTrend: from soft organisations

to forest management

organisations

Forestland owned bymembers of FOA`s

16

159

206 238

259 266

338

381

-

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*

TUH

AN

DED

(h

a)

Members of FOA`s

2,012,50

3,544,23

5,16

7,70

9,72

-

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*

x TU

HA

T

Average area of forestland of members of FOA`s (ha)

79 83

67 61

52

44 39

25

35

45

55

65

75

85

95

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*

Private Forest CentreFoundation under the Ministry of Environment. Private legal body, but financed by the state.

People: 30 (+12 local controllers)

Aim: Development of private forestry

Tasks:

Administration of subsidies to private forest owners

Development activities for private forestry (supporting of FOA`s, advisory system, training courses, information materials, international projects etc.)

Support to forest owners

Activity Budget for 2016 mil. eur

NATURA 4

Silvicultural investments (thinning, pruning,

preventing game damages etc.)

2

Forest Management Plans 0,45

Forest regeneration 1,2

Support to FOA`s 0,6

Extensionist service (advisory system) 0,45

Forest draining 0,3

Protection of key habitats 0,13

Maintenance of cultural heritage 0,02

TOTAL 9,15

In conclusion

Estonia is rich offorests, but

more forestmanagement workshave to be done in private forests and

activating small forest owners is a key issue to have better forests in the future