This week the working group promoting the use of forest by-products met for the first time. Participants in the meeting included experts from the Centre of Forest Protection and Silviculture, the State Forest Management Centre, the Estonian Private Forest Union, the Estonian Forest Industries Association, the Private Forest Association and the Ministry of the Environment. The aim of the working group is to determine the current extent of the use of forest by-products in Estonia and find out the ways of forest use. In order to maximise the potential benefit from the use of forest by-products, the risks and impacts of by-product use have to be assessed and analysed. As in the entire forest management, a long-term perspective is needed also with regard to the use of forest by-products. The final objective of the working group is to map the situation of by-product use and prepare a corresponding strategy for future promotion of the use of forest by-products. The preliminary version of the strategy should be ready in a year. Traditionally, there are areas of by-product use that can be dealt with by small companies. These areas include, for example: gathering of bark, secondary timber, tree seeds, nuts, forest berries, mushrooms, herbs, branches for brooms or for use in the sauna, hay, reed, tree roots and cones, and growing of Christmas trees, forest berries and mushrooms. Some of these areas of use will surely decline when the standard of life improves. That is why it is crucial to find ways to link these areas to the recreational business, at the same time valuing our cultural heritage. As a result, valuable cultural heritage of our forefathers would be preserved for us as well as tourists and forest owners could benefit from forest management. As a new field of use, wood waste compost could be an interesting product in Estonia and abroad. Energy fields are also a growing area of the use of forest by-products. By promoting the use of forest by-products, it is possible to diversify rural economic activity and create more jobs, which in turn will expand the local revenue base and diminish the need for social benefits. Further information: Monika Kopti |
