Private forestry in Estonia Jaanus Aun Private Forest Centre, member of the board

General information Total land area km 2 Total forest area 2,26 mln ha (50%) Average growing stock 201 m 3 /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 (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  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 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 (pre- commercial 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 Forest Owners Forest Owner`s Associations Estonian Private Forest Union Central Co- operative United Forest Owners Private Forest Centre Estonian Timbertrade Center

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) Administ- ration unit Development Unit Unit of Subsidies Control Unit Internal Control Auditing Committee

Private Forest Centre - subsidies ActivityBudget for 2013 mil. eur NATURA5 Investments to forestry (thinning, pruning, machinery) 2,5 Forest Management Plans1,0 Forest regeneration0,6 Support to FOA`s0,5 Extensionist service (advisory system)0,4 Forest draining0,4 Protection of key habitats0,13 Maintenance of cultural heritage0,03

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)

Advisory/extensionist system – individual advice Very strongly linked to the system of Forest Owner`s Associations! FOREST OWNER – needs advice, gets advice ADVISOR – provides 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) In total we have 80 advisors, but only ca 20 of them work as full-time advisors

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 %) 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 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!