Private forestry in Estonia
Jaanus Aun
Private Forest Centre,
member of the board
General information
Total land area 45 000 km2
Total forest area 2,26 mln ha
(50%)
Average growing stock 201 m3/ha
Estonian forest categories:
Commercial forests (69,4%)
Protection forests (22,6%)
Protected forests (7,7%)
Dominant tree species in private
forests:
Birch (33%), Pine (28%), Spruce (20%)
Annual felling volume:
7 – 10 mil. scbm
Possible sustainable cut: up to 15 milj.
scbm
General information-private
forestry
Area of private forests:
ca 1 mil/ha (50%)
Number of owners: ca 100 000
(includes very small owners)
Owners types:
physical and legal bodies
(about 25%
of private forests belong to the
companies)
Average size of forest property:
ca 10 ha
Very fragmented division of forest estates!
Annual felling volume ca 6 mil. sbm
Common forest owner:
Ordinary Estonian, living far from property
and having no forestry education
Private forests – tree species (ha)
Private forests – what to do with the
wood?
The structure of Estonia's forest-based industries consists of
all of the main branches of the forest industry, but the pulp
and paper industry is relatively small
• Good domestic market for sawlogs - demand is higher
than supply.
• Unstable market for pulpwood – very little domestic
market, most of the pulpwood is exported to Scandinavia.
Domestic use is for the aspen and in very modest amounts
for spruce and pine.
• Energywood - a star of tomorrow(?) but looser of today!
Other owners
 State forests are
managed by State
Forest Management
Centre (RMK), please
visit http://rmk.ee/en
 Very little municipal
forests
 Very little forests of
churches and
congregations
Private forestry - roots
Private land ownership was dominant before
expropriation in 1940
All land belonged to the state during the Soviet
era, private forests mainly belonged to
collective farms.
Ownership reform started in 1991. Two ways for
re-creation of private ownership:
1) restitution;
2) privatisation
Private forestry – situation in
2013
Land reform almost completed
Many passive owners
Forest resources underutilised (especially
species like alder, aspen)
Volume of silvicultural works (precommercial thinnings, restoration of
drainage systems) too modest
Challenges for private forestry
Activating private forest owners
more silvicultural work (aims for 2020:
30% more pre-commercial thinnings;
tripling of area of thinnings)
better growing conditions
higher gross annual increment
Measures to motivate forest
owners
Tax regulations
Forestry legislation – less
bureaucracy
A well-functioning support
system
Support system for private forestry organisations
Estonian
Private Forest
Union
Private
Forest
Centre
Central Cooperative United
Forest Owners
Estonian
Timbertrade
Center
Forest Owner`s Associations
Forest Owners
Private Forest Centre
Foundation under the Ministry of Environment.
Private legal body, but financed by the state.
People: 35 (+15 local controllers)
Aim: promotion of private forestry
Tasks:
 Administration of subsidies to private forest
owners (about 8 mil. eur a year)
 Development activities for private forestry
(supporting of associations, advisory system,
training courses, information materials,
international projects etc.)
Private Forest Centre
Supervisory
Board (5 persons)
Board (2 persons)
Internal Control
Administration unit
Auditing Committee
Development
Unit
Unit of
Subsidies
Control Unit
Private Forest Centre subsidies
Activity
Budget for 2013 mil.
eur
NATURA
5
Investments to forestry (thinning, pruning,
machinery)
2,5
Forest Management Plans
1,0
Forest regeneration
0,6
Support to FOA`s
0,5
Extensionist service (advisory system)
0,4
Forest draining
0,4
Protection of key habitats
0,13
Maintenance of cultural heritage
0,03
•
Private Forest Centre – partner in the
projects
Projects mainly in the field of woodenergy:
 Bioenergy Promotion
 Woodenergy and Cleantech
 WETNet (“producing” of supertrainers in woodenergy
issues)
Exchange of experiences with forest sectors in other countries
(mainly Finland, Sweden, Germany, Latvia)
All projects, that are targeted to activate forest owners
are very welcomed!
Private Forest Centre – co-ordinator
of support system
Strenghtening the network of forest
owner`s associations (FOA) by:
Providing direct financial support and
assessing its impact;
Training the key persons of FOA`s;
Advertising the services of FOA`s to forest
owners (campaigns in TV, newspapers)
Forest Owner`s Associations
Number of FOA`s – more than 20 active
History:
 first associations established in the middle on nineties.
Attempts to organise wood sale and forest management.
Result: collapse
 New wave in the beginning of this century. Different
approach: not for profit groups, only „soft“ services
 Change from 2008 – FOA`s as providers of forest
management services
Forest Owner`s Associations
What could forest owner get from FOA:
 Information
 Advice (courses and individual advice);
 Applying for subsidies from Private Forest Centre;
 Support for silvicultural activities;
 Representation in local policy questions (i.e. hunting,
nature protection)
- Joint wood sale (not in all counties!)
Trend: from soft organisation to forest management
organisation
Forestland represented by FOA`s (ha)
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Advisory/extensionist system –
individual advice
Very strongly linked to the system of Forest
Owner`s Associations!
ADVISOR –
provides advice
FOREST
OWNER –
needs advice,
gets advice
ASSOCIATION –
co-ordinates
activities of
extensionists on the
county level
PRIVATE
FOREST
CENTRE – trains
advisors, finances
provided advice
Advisory/extensionist system - advisor
Prerequisities to become an
advisor:
 Forestry education
 At least two year practise
in forestry sector
 Good communication
skills
A special exam has to be
performed in order to get a
professional certificate of
advisor (certificate is issued by
The Rural Economy Research
Centre)
Advisory/extensionist system financing
From 2014:
 Every member of FOA can get 15 hours advice for
free every year;
 Non-members have to pay 30% of costs of advice
(from 2015 50%)
PFC pays 26 eur for hour (but not more than 15*26)
to FOA who transfers money for advisor. All costs
that exceed this level must be paid by the client.
Advisory/extensionist system training of advisors
Forming up of special
training package for
every year by PFC.
Main topics:
 Communication
training
 Forestry legislation
 Taxation issues
For advisors the traning
is free of charge
Advisory system – group advice
Target groups:
 Staff of FOA`s (incl. advisors)
 Forest owners
Division of tasks:
 FOA trains forest owners;
 PFC trains staff of FOA`s
 Forestry schools provide more comprehensive courses
Cases when PFC trains forest owners:
 Specific topics crucial all over the country (for example
changes in the taxation legislation)
 Provision of written information/training material
Advisory system – group advice
Methodology:
 Public announcment by
FOA
 1-2 topics
 Lectures in- and outdoor
(duration 3-4 hours)
Most popular topics:
Taxes, subsidies, wood sale,
silviculture
Every year about 2 000
forest owners participate in
the group advice events
organised by FOA`s
Challenges
Smarter forest owner can
not be the only outcome
of provided advice.
Advice has to lead to
activities in the forest!
A well-functioning
advisory system means
better forests!
Our expectations for the
project
To learn from the experiences of the partners:
 How the advisory system has been made attractive
for forest owners?
 How the good quality of advice is quaranteed?
 How is quaranteed, that advice will be
implemented in the forest?
… and many other things to learn!
www.eramets.ee