In 2013, Estonia was officially declared a rabies-free country Many game-borne diseases also threaten domestic animals. The best known of these are rabies, African swine fever, avian influenza, echinococcosis, and scabies. Rabies Rabies is a viral disease that is incurable and always fatal. The incubation period of the disease can be from a few weeks to a few years, and the virus remains viable...

The Estonian sea coast is diverse and the types of shores that occur here often vary after a short distance The coast is considered to be the coastal zone and the adjacent land and sea – coastal lands and coastal sea. The landward border of the coast is the imaginary line connecting the bottoms of the bays, while the seaward border is an imaginary line connecting the peaks of the peninsulas. If...

Inland waters form very diverse habitats Inland water bodies vary in size, depth, amount and nature of solutes, water flow rate, the characteristics of the bottom, water temperature, and many other aspects. Their combinations form very different habitats inhabited by very different species. The number of species usually increases with the increase in the area or catchment basin of a water body, as...

The Baltic Sea is the second largest inland sea in the world A sea is a part of the world ocean that is more or less separated from the oceans or other seas by continents, islands, or bottom uplands. The seas are divided into: the inter-island seas (a part of the world ocean surrounded by archipelagos), the inland seas (a sea connected to the ocean or other seas by straits), and the peripheral...

The aim of the AEWA is to protect migratory waterbirds and their habitats throughout the migratory range The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) aims to provide international protection to migratory waterbirds and their habitats throughout the migratory area of the African-Eurasian migratory route of arctic waterbirds. The agreement is administered by the...

Mapping and assessment of the main terrestrial ecosystems Countrywide mapping and assessment of the of the condition and services of the main natural and semi-natural terrestrial ecosystems was initiated at the end of 2018 and completed in 2020 in the course of the national MAES project ELME [1]. This first completed stage is also called ELME1. In 2021 –2023 further methodological refinement and...

Designer cells can be made to produce, for example, essential pharmaceuticals or biofuels Synthetic biology is a discipline that involves cell modelling and the artificial synthesis of the hereditary material (DNA). In the field of synthetic biology, new life forms are artificially created or existing ones are reshaped by reprogramming cell behaviour and giving them new desired properties [1]...

Science-based, sustainable forest management can ensure that the economic, social, and ecological objectives of the forests are met Sustainable forestry takes into account four aspects – economic, social, ecological, and cultural considerations. Sustainable forestry refers to the management of forests in such a way as to ensure their biodiversity, productivity, regenerative capacity, viability...