Estonian rivers have a relatively small hydropower potential and much of it is already in use In a hydroelectric power plant, the kinetic energy of the river’s falling or flowing water is converted into electricity. Hydropower is considered a type of so-called green energy because it avoids the consumption of fossil fuels and running water itself is a renewable energy source. However, there are...

Oil shale, or kukersite, is the most important mineral resource of Estonia, which has been the main source of electricity since 1924, but also a source of environmental problems The oil shale industry has significantly affected the socio-economic and natural environment of the Ida-Viru County for almost a century [1]. Due to oil shale mining and processing and activities related to oil shale...

The area affected by drainage may be 20–150% larger than the peat extraction area Before the 1950s, peat was mined by hand from the edges of bogs in Estonia, and the extensive drainage known today was not done – that is why these areas recovered quickly and the impact on biodiversity was small. Since the 1950s, large-scale peat fields have been created as a result of the introduction of milling...

A large audience and numerous participants provide an opportunity to raise the environmental awareness of the participants and spectators during the event As recreational sports gain popularity every year, the pressure on nature is also growing. New competitions and a growing number of recreational athletes require new venues, and in that regard, nature is used more and more. Sporting events can...

Each of us can preserve biodiversity when we move around as tourists Over the last hundred years, the tourism industry has become an important and constantly growing industry. Travelling and discovering new places is a popular hobby and recreational activity for many people. Unfortunately, there is a price for curiosity, which is also reflected in environmental problems, for example – air travel...

17 Natura 2000 nature sites, 6 bird sites, and a large part of the water-dependent habitat types are located on top of the Estonian oil shale deposit In 1996, an Australian study found that underground mining has an impact on water and biodiversity [1]. This impact is smaller than that of surface mining; the changes it causes will be felt over time and will be more concentrated in the area of the...

As of the end of 2019, wind turbines accounted for slightly more than half of the production capacity of renewable electricity Wind is a renewable natural resource and a wind energy ecosystem service that humanity has been exploiting for thousands of years. The widespread use of wind energy can partly reduce the need to burn fossil fuels and consequently reduce CO 2 emissions. As wind energy is an...

The Environmental Investment Centre (EIC) has been operating for over 20 years and supported many projects The EIC supports Estonian nature conservation activities in several different ways. Various measures and programmes fund a number of activities for planning the development of nature conservation, restoring, maintaining, and organising the protection of protected natural objects, and...

Environmental monitoring provides basic data for decisions concerning the environment and the society How are our eagles doing? Is the air in Tallinn more polluted today than ten years ago? How big are the fish stocks of Lake Peipsi? We get answers to these and many other environmental questions thanks to continuous environmental monitoring. Environmental monitoring means the planned and...

A new Atlas of the Estonian mammals is being prepared, which will provide an up-to-date overview of the distribution of all wild mammal species in Estonia WATCH the actively updated MAP STORY of the mammal atlas HERE. More than 20 years have passed since the previous compilation and collection of a comprehensive mammal distribution data set. Major changes in land use (suburbanisation, changes in...