Frontpage » Departments & activities » Nature conservation
Vaika-Vilsandi The foundations for nature conservation in Estonia were laid in 1906 when botanist Prof. Karl Reinhold Kupffer, Vice-President of the Riga Naturalist Society, and ornithologist Ferdinand Erdman Stoll, conservator at the Riga Museum of Nature, began a study of nature in Saaremaa. Their intention was to establish a biology station in Western Saaremaa, an idea they had developed with Edmund Russow, Professor of Botany at the University of Tartu (UT). Russow was in contact with Hugo Conwentz, a founder of the concept of nature conservation in Europe.
During their field study, the scientists met Artur Toom, supervisor of the lighthouse on the island of Vilsandi. Toom had rented, in 1909, the islands of Vaika for the purpose of bird protection. He had restricted collection of eggs from nests and improved the breeding conditions of birds. The scientists were impressed by such dedication. The Riga Naturalist Society started to support him and concluded a rental contract with the pastorate of Kihelkonna on 14 August 1910. This date is regarded as the founding date of the first nature reserve in Estonia. It was the first known conservation area in the Baltic countries and, currently, the conservation area on the islands of Vaika constitutes a part of the Vilsandi National Park.
The Vilsand National Park, created to protect the coastal landscape and natural resources of Western Estonia, the ecosystems of small islands, seabirds and the resting sites of the seals of the Baltic Sea, includes 160 islands and islets. Approximately one third of the 23,760 hectares of the national park area is located on dry land.
Järvselja The Tartu Naturalists' Society with its nature conservation section, established in 1920, was the primary promoter of nature conservation during the first years of the Republic of Estonia. The section wanted to register, study and preserve natural heritage sites. This work was started at the initiative of Fedor Bucholtz, the first chairman of the section and Professor of Botany at the UT. After his death in 1924, the section was chaired by Prof. Andres Mathiesen, founder of the Forestry Department at the university, promoter of Estonian higher education in forestry and supporter of nature conservation.
Several areas, including the forest block of the Kastre-Peravalla forest study district in Järvselja, were placed under protection even before the adoption of the Nature Conservation Act (1935). There were ambitious plans to establish the first national park in Estonia. Bucholtz and Prof. Johannes Piiper, Chairman of the Tartu Naturalists' Society, found a suitable forest landscape in the Küüskla guard area of the Paasvere forest district, but the plans were disrupted by the construction of the Sonda-Mustvee railway.
This first forest reserve in Estonia has now developed into the Järvselja Nature Reserve, established to preserve and exhibit virgin forest communities and to ensure protection of old natural forests, spruce stands with a rich variety of forbs, paludifying and bog-broadleaf forests, transitional and raised bog forests, and protected plant and fungi species.
Lake Kaali In 1927, Ivan Reinwald, mining engieer and geologist, and Artur Luha, head of the Geology Office at the University of Tartu, raised the issue of protecting Lake Kaali in Saaremaa, because there was an hypothesis about meteorite origin of the lake.Even though Reinwald successfully proved this hypothesis only after 10 years of research, a proposal was made, in 1928, to the nature conservation section of the Naturalists' Society to draft a Conservation of Natural Resources Act, which would have ensured the protection of Lake Kaali as well A committee consisting of Andres Mathiesen, Edmund Spohr, Artur Luha and Gustav Vilberg (Vilbaste) was established to prepare a draft of the Act.The draft was completed in 1929 and its stated aim was to preserve natural resources of scientific, economic or aesthetic value. The objects of nature conservation included ecological reserves, protected plant and animal species, and natural heritage sites. The envisaged supervisory body of nature conservation was the Ministry of Education, acting through a Nature Conservation Council, which was to be established for that purpose. However, being wary of extra costs, the government authorities did not support the draft and the Act was never passed. Lake Kaali as a meteorite impact crater was placed under protection with a decision of the Government of the Republic from 10 August 1938. Currently, the crater field of Kaali, which was the starting point of the discovery of meteorite craters in Estonia and in Europe, is located on the Kaali landscape protection area with an area of 83 ha.
Nature Conservation Act of 1935 Estonia's first Nature Conservation Act came into force on 17 December 1935. It was drafted by Teodor Lippmaa and Gustav Vilbaste. The Nature Conservation Council, chaired by Lippmaa, was established on the basis of this Act. The Council was charged with the task of general supervision over nature conservation, making proposals for entering land areas, water bodies and other objects in the nature conservation register, nominating candidates for the position of nature conservation inspector, etc.
The National Parks Administration, headed by Peeter Päts, was appointed to manage nature conservation activities and a special position of a nature conservation inspector was established at the Administration. Gustav Vilbaste was hired in 1936 as the first nature conservation inspector in Estonia. His duties included preparing a list of protected natural objects, making arrangemnets for marking the objects, and organising the work of nature conservation trustees. On the proposal of the nature conservation inspector, the director of the National Parks Administration appointed nature conservation trustees, who provided information on new natural objects that could require protection and monitored the condition of protected objects. The number of trustees was over 500 and most of them were school teachers or forest specialists.
In 1938, the Nature Conservation Act was amended by adding provisions on public parks and maintained squares. The Nature Protection Act came into force on 1 April 1938. The corresponding government agency was named the Institute of Nature Protection and Tourism.
In 1940, Estonia had 47 protection areas for forests, plants, bogs, birds, therapeutic mud, and geological formations. Over 200 ancient trees and boulders, 80 parks and a number of plant and animal species were under protection.
National Parks Administration The National Parks Administration was the predecessor of all subsequent national nature conservation authorities in Estonia, including the Ministry of the Environment.
The National Parks Administration (NPA) was established under the Administration of National Parks Act, which came into force on 30 April 1935. The NPA was initially established to manage the lands and buildings and organise activities in the parks of Kadriorg, Keila-Joa and Oru, but the Government of the Republic could charge it with the task of managing other state-owned parks.
The NPA reported to the Secretary of State and was managed by director Peeter Päts. After the Nature Conservation Act came into force in December of the same year, the National Parks Administration was chosen to oversee the field of nature conservation as well. In 1938, the Nature Conservation Act was amended by addin provisions on the use of public parks and maintained squares, and on the regulation of tourism.
The Nature Protection Act came into force on 1 April 1938. The respective government agency under the Ministry of Social Affairs was named the Institute of Nature Protection and Tourism. The Institute was dissolved after the June Coup of 1940. By that time, 80 parks had been placed under protection. At the present time, this number has grown to 548, including all protected forest stands. The purpose of park protection is to preserve the original landscape designs, as well as forest stands of dendrological, cultural, ecological, aesthetical or recreational value, and valuable design elements of park and garden art, while managing the future use and development of the parks.
Nature Conservation Register The Nature Conservation Act of 17 December 1935 stipulated creation of the nature conservation register. The register was handwritten, in black ink, and included all land areas, ancient trees, boulders, plants and any other protected objects in the order in which they were placed under protection. The entries were signed by the nature conservation inspector Gustav Vilbaste and the director of the nature conservation authority Peeter Päts.
The first object in the register was Rava oak-forest in Järvamaa, entered on 11 November 1936. The total number of entries was 549; the last entry, thujas in the manor park of Mäo, was made on 22 February 1941. In 1940, the register inlcuded 47 protection areas for forests, plants, bogs, birds, therapeutic mud, and geological formations, over 200 ancient trees and boulders, 80 parks, and a number of plant and animal species. The protected areas were re-established and the lists of protected parks, ancient trees and boulders were approved in 1957, after adoption of the Act on the Conservation of Nature in the Estonian SSR. However, no reference was made to the nature conservation register that existed in Estonia from 1936 to 1941. It was the customary practice of that period. It is, nvertheless, likely that the information from the register was used to prepare the lists in 1957, because the majority of former protected areas, parks, ancient trees and boulders were included on the new list.
The old nature conservation register resurfaced at the beginning of 1990 when heavy rain flooded the cellar of the Ministry of the Environment at Toompuiestee 26. The register was found while saving the archives from the cellar. The register book was dried and some copies were made, which where then used to supplement the EELIS Estonian Nature Infosystem with historical data. The register book was restored in the Conservation Centre Kanut.
Nature Conservation Act of the Estonian SSR Many years passed after World War II before it was possible to restore communal nature conservation organisations and to create national nature conservation institutions. The nature conservation section of the Estonian Naturalists' Society was reactivated in 1951. The Naturalists' Society established a committee consisting of August Karu, Karl Eichwald, Endel Varep and Eerik Kumari to prepare a draft regulation on nature conservation.
A Committee on Nature Conservation was established at the Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR and it was for a long time chaired by Prof. Kumari. In cooperation, these institutions preapred a draft of the Act on the Conservation of Nature in the Estonian SSR, which was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR on 7 June 1957.
On 11 July 1957, the Council of Ministers of the Estonian SSR issued a regulation establishing the Nature Protection Administration, which was at first managed by Voldemar Telling and later by Heino Luik. The same regulation established four national protection areas (Matsalu, Nigula, Viidumäe and Vaika) and 28 other protection areas.
The Act of 1957 governed the nature conservation activities until 1990.
1960 The development of nature conservation at the national level continued with the establishment of the Central Administration for Forest Management and Nature Protection in 1962, which was reorganised into the Ministry of Forestry and Nature Conservation in 1966 (Heino Teder was the Minister). The Nature Protection Administration (managed by Heino Luik) was merged with this Central Administration. In 1963, the director of the Central Administration issued a directive approving the standard statutes of nature conservation commissions at the executive committes of district/city councils. Many important local natural objects were placed under protection with the support of these commissions. A nature conservation commission was established at the Council of Ministers of the ESSR in 1965 to coordinate nature conservation efforts of the ministries and undertakings, as well as development of proposals for integrated use of natural resources. The Estonian Nature Conservation Society was founded (by Jaan Eilart and Edgar Tõnurist) in 1966 as a non-governmental organisation for the protection of nature and cultural heritage.
The nature conservation work in regional districs was organised through ministerial agencies – forest administrations and protection area administrations.
The Estonian Research Institute of Forestry and Nature Conservation was founded in Tartu in 1969 (director Ülo Erik) and it also included a nature conservation sector (headed by August Örd). In 1976, the sector completed a study on the "System of Protected Territories in the Estonian SSR and Prospective Nature Parks and Protected Areas". The study examined 109 prospective protected areas and extension of three existing protected areas.
1970–1980 The Lahemaa National Park was established in 1971 to protect the characteristic Northern Estonian landscapes, ecosystems, biological diversity and cultural heritage, and to manage sustainable use of natural resources.
Debates over large-scale drainage of marshes began in the 1970s. One of the leading figures in these debates was Prof. Viktor Masing, promoter of nature conservation, botanist and biogeographer. 28 new marsh protection areas were established in 1981 as a result of these widely publicised debates.
The Endla Nature Reserve was established in 1985 to protect the large karst springs on the southern slope of the Pandivere Upland, the Endla Mire System, as well as the protected species and their habitats in this area. The Kurtna Landscape Reserve was established in 1987 to protect the kames and lake biota of Kurtna and to preserve the recreational value of the landscape.
In 1988, the Nature Protection and Forest Management Committee (chaired by Tiit Nuudi) of the Estonian SSR was established on the basis of the Ministry of Forestry and Nature Conservation. The positions of nature conservation inspectors at forest administrations were subordinated to the nature and environment departments at the executive committees of the district and city councils.
In 1989, the Ministry of the Environment was founded on the basis of the Nature Protection and Forest Management Committee of the ESSR (Tiit Nuudi was the Minister). The Western Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve was established in January 1990.
1990 In 1990, the Supreme Council of the ESSR passed the law on the "Protection of Estonian Nature".
In connection with the reorganisation of the central authority of forest management in 1991, administrations of nature reserves were established, in addition to the Lahemaa National Park and the Matsalu Nature Reserve, for the nature reserves of Endla, Nigula, Viidumäe and Vilsandi, for the landscape reserves of Otepää, the islets of Hiiumaa, and Kõrvemaa, and for the botanical-zoological reserve of Virtsu-Laelatu-Puhtu.
The Estonian Fund for Nature was founded in 1991. Three national parks were added to the map of Estonia in 1993: the Soomaa National Park, established on the basis of the marsh reserves of Valgeraba, Ördi, Kuresoo and Kikepera and the wooded meadow of Halliste; the Karula National Park, established on the basis of the landscape reserve of Karula; and the Vilsandi National Park, reorganised from the Vilsandi Nature Reserve. In 1994, the map of protected areas was supplemented by the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve, established to protect forest, marsh and meadow communities and the habitats of protected species on a wide territory, and by the Naissaar Nature Park, established to protect the natural assets of the island and to preserve its recreational value.
In 1994, the Riigikogu (parliament) adopted the Law on Protected Natural Objects. This Law governed the adoption of protection regulations for protected areas and organisation of nature conservation until 2004.
The structure of the government area of the Ministry of the Environment was modified in 1999. County environmental services were integrated into the Ministry of the Environment and were appointed to manage all protected areas, which did not have a separate administration.
2000 Extensive activities started in 2000 in the framework of the national programme "Estonian Natura 2000" to establish an Estonian Natura 2000 network in compliance with the nature conservation directives of the European Union.
Estonia acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004, and the Nature Conservation Act came into force on 10 May 2004. The Act was drafted in keeping with the requirements for the organisation of the protection of species and habitats according to the EU nature conservation directives. The Act integrated previous regulations from the Law on Protected Natural Objects, the Shore and Coast Protection Act, and the Law on the Protection and Use of Wild Fauna. The Nature Conservation Act of 2004 renamed the Matsalu Nature Reserve to the Matsalu National Park.
The protection of the Natura 2000 areas is organised, pursuant to the Nature Conservation Act, by establishing a protected area, a limited-conservation area, a species protected site, or a protected natural monument.
On 1 January 2006, the administrations of the protected areas were reorganised into the State Nature Conservation Centre, which was responsible for the organisation of the protection of all protected natural objects in Estonia. The central office and eight regional offices of the State Nature Conservation Centre employed 180 persons.
On 1 February 2009, the functions of the State Nature Conservation Centre, the environmental services of the Ministry of the Environment, and the Radiation Centre were combined into the Environmental Board, which is the current administrator of protected natural objects.
CBD The UN has proclaimed the year 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. In this year, the international community will be invited to recognise the value of biodiversity around us and to prevent it from destruction.
Estonia is one of the few European countries where the natural environment has been well preserved and, therefore, our natural assets should be regarded as a valuable treasure. Everyone can make their contribution by choosing a sustainable style of life and consumption. It is important to remember that biodiversity is not restricted to protected areas but can be found everywhere around us; it is the foundation of our lives, providing us with fresh air, water, food and fertile soil.
Diverse ecosystems are characterised by strong bonds between species, making them more resistant to any disturbances and negative influences, incl. climate change. Biodiversity of different communities can be very variable. In the temperate climate zone, the largest variety of species can be found in semi-natural communities. These are the best-researched and best-known ecosystems that maintain biological diversity in Estonia. For example, 76 plant species per square meter were found on the wooded meadow of Laelatu, while the wooded meadow of Vahenurme had 74 species per square meter. Similar indicators in other Nordic countries are far behind Estonia’s wooded meadows, not exceeding 50 or 60 species.
As of 31 December 2008, Estonia had 3,442 protected natural objects, including 948 protected areas (5 national parks, 129 nature reserves, 149 landscape reserves, 117 areas without updated protection regimes, and 548 parks and forest stands), 343 limited-conservation areas, 949 species protection sites, 1,197 protected natural monuments, and 5 objects protected on local government level. The total size of the protected areas is 1,516,955 ha, including 779,065 ha on dry land. |
