Trade in wild animal and plant species poses a major threat to the survival of the species CITES regulates international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora. The purpose of the convention is to protect species that are endangered because of trade from extinction. CITES was signed in Washington in 1973 and entered into force two years later. Estonia acceded to the convention in 1992...

Since the creation of the European Diploma for Protected Areas, 74 protected areas have received it. Among them is the Matsalu National Park The European Diploma of Protected Areas is a prestigious international award given by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe since 1965. The diploma values natural and semi-natural communities and landscapes that are of exceptional European...

The role of the European Environment Agency is to provide reliable and independent environmental information on Europe Established in 1990, the European Environment Agency (EEA) is the European Union’s body responsible for providing reliable and independent environmental information. The European Environment Agency is an important source of information for environmental policy makers, implementers...

14 species of bats have been registered in Estonia, but 2 of them are occasional visitors. All Estonian bat species belong to the list of protected category II species UNEP/EUROBATS is an international agreement for the protection of European bat populations. The agreement was concluded in 1995 as part of the Bonn Convention, an agreement on the protection of migratory routes of wild animal...

The main task of the GBIF is to make information on species available freely and free of charge in a uniform format for all interested parties The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international network that aims to share information on all types of biodiversity in the world. The main task of the GBIF is to make biodiversity information available freely, free of charge, and to...

There are seven HELCOM areas in Estonia, covering 24% of Estonia’s territorial sea The Helsinki Convention, or the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (also the HELCOM Convention), is designed to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. The first version of the convention was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980. Estonia acceded to this...

The IUCN identifies and maps the world’s major environmental conservation challenges and develops measures to address or mitigate them The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organisation established in 1948 to promote nature conservation and the ecologically sustainable use of natural resources. The union brings together national governments, non-governmental...

Mapping and assessment of the base levels of condition and services 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]. The consortium consisted of scientists (University of Tartu, Estonian University of Life...

Socioeconomic mapping and assessment of 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 stage is also called ELME1. In 2021–2023 further methodological refinement and updates...

The preliminary methodology for MAES of marine and inland water ecosystems was worked out during the project “Development of methods for assessment and mapping of ecosystem services of marine and inland waters” that was conducted in 2014–2015 in Estonia and was co-funded by the EEA and Norway Grants. In the framework of the Estonian maritime spatial planning process, different ecosystem-services...