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Forest

forest forestry forest land trees felling

Estonia is one of the most forested countries in the world. Forests cover nearly half of the mainland in Estonia. The forests here stand out with an abundance of species, preserved thanks to a large proportion of naturally renewed forests and few alien tree species. Forest areas are important in the carbon cycle, binding carbon from the atmosphere in woody plants and forest soil.

Wood is an increasingly important source of renewable energy, valued raw material and building material. Wood is used to make doors, windows, houses and furniture, which are sold on the domestic market and exported to other countries. 

Forest statistics provide information about

  • the size of Estonia’s forest resources;
  • the annual increment of stands;
  • the area of forest land in Estonia;
  • the share of protected forest land;
  • the annual volume of felling.

Based on forest statistics, it is possible to assess how viable and productive are Estonian forests and how well the state ensures their renewal and preservation.

Gross felling based on national forest inventory (nfi) 11.25 million m³
-11.72%
2019
Total area of clear felling based on NFI 29.6 thousand hectares
-13.7%
2019
Carbon storage in wooden biomass on forest land 163.61 million tonnes
-1.85%
2020
Area of forest land 2.32 million ha
-0.33%
2020
Total growing stock of stands 472.31 million m³
-1.85%
2020
Increment of stand volume per year 7.6 m³/ha
0.0%
2020
Territory covered by forest 51.3 %
2020
Share of strictly protected forests in total forest land area 14.2 %
0.7%
2020
Share of felling in net annual increment on managed forest land 11.8 %
2019
Forest resources based on national forest inventory | 2001–2020
Source data in the statistical database: KK51
Share of strictly protected forests in total forest land area | 2002–2020
Source data in the statistical database: SN11
Share of forest annual fellings in net annual increment | 2004–2016
Source data in the statistical database: SN04
Gross felling based on national forest inventory | 2000 – 2019
Unit: m³/ha
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Total felling 134 141 119 115 110 118 92 94 88 104 115 105 121 115 132 129 146 153 147 128
Regeneration felling 258 252 210 206 212 258 232 230 211 223 237 243 265 248 251 242 263 274 279 263
Maintenance felling 84 83 73 73 67 62 43 38 37 46 44 39 40 43 44 43 44 44 47 42
Other felling 58 57 29 19 25 64 43 40 12 22 31 35 54 41 50 29 37 41 32 30

Source data in the statistical database: MM03
Area of forests, area of stands | 2001 – 2020
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Area of forest and other wooded land, thousand ha 2,239 2,215 2,255 2,281 2,270 2,268 2,264 2,228 2,216 2,221 2,234 2,249 2,268 2,295 2,310 2,313 2,331 2,331 2,333 2,325
Area of stands, thousand ha 2,078 2,052 2,091 2,118 2,107 2,113 2,115 2,082 2,070 2,080 2,090 2,101 2,115 2,135 2,146 2,143 2,157 2,149 2,142 2,120

Source data in the statistical database: KK51
Carbon storage in wooden biomass on forest land by dominant tree species | 1991 – 2020
Unit: thousand tons
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Pine 39,730 40,274 40,819 41,363 41,907 42,452 42,996 43,540 44,822 48,415 46,425 46,566 46,124 48,500 48,447 50,668 53,004 53,725 54,054 54,161 54,171 54,773 56,038 57,283 57,295 56,758 56,122 55,306 54,805 53,439
Spruce 23,004 23,319 23,635 23,950 24,265 24,580 24,895 25,211 24,894 27,097 27,145 26,764 26,801 27,134 26,780 26,554 25,957 25,856 25,298 25,879 26,474 26,814 27,405 28,715 29,010 29,862 30,437 30,234 29,883 29,359
Birch 36,283 36,780 37,277 37,774 38,272 38,769 39,266 39,763 40,193 41,881 42,314 42,258 42,612 42,607 42,609 41,731 41,465 41,288 42,589 43,713 45,996 46,795 47,357 46,743 47,377 47,072 47,357 46,745 46,893 46,091
Aspen 10,236 10,376 10,516 10,656 10,797 10,937 11,077 11,217 13,500 12,092 12,152 12,131 11,774 11,449 11,354 11,249 11,109 11,253 11,422 11,519 11,945 11,843 12,032 11,877 12,102 12,424 12,890 12,956 13,265 13,324
Common alder 4,408 4,468 4,529 4,589 4,649 4,710 4,770 4,831 4,407 4,987 5,253 4,873 5,249 5,418 5,335 5,048 5,350 5,502 5,576 5,590 6,011 6,291 6,385 6,285 6,778 7,003 7,255 7,138 7,256 7,179

Source data in the statistical database: KK509

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