Estonian national species: the barn swallow, the cornflower, the wolf, the Baltic herring, and the common yellow swallowtail Many countries have symbolic national species – birds, animals, or plants – which are used as national symbols, for example on flags, coats of arms, banknotes, and stamps. Perhaps one of the most famous national species is the bald eagle of the United States. When the...

Estonia has submitted five general reports on compliance with the requirements of the convention Article 26 of the Convention on Biological Diversity requires the acceded countries to report to the secretariat of the convention on the achievement of the objectives set out in the convention, as well as to describe what has been done and its effectiveness. Estonia has submitted five general reports...

Here you will find the reports submitted by Estonia on the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol.

Mushroom picking and eating began to be widely introduced in the late nineteenth century More than 7,000 species of fungi have been found in Estonia. There are about 400 species of edible mushrooms in Estonia, and about 200 species of poisonous mushrooms [1]. An Estonian still goes to the forest in the autumn to be able to make themselves a delicious sauce from fresh mushrooms and to salt...

Nowadays, you can also get to know nature with the help of a smart device. With the help of smart applications and websites, nature lovers can supplement biodiversity databases Today, there are many Estonian-language nature-themed smart apps for both Android and iOS users. Some applications are helpful in identifying species, while others are tools for storing observations. Observation databases...

Mires have been a refuge from wars, diseases, or other people Fens and bogs have been a part of the daily life of ancient Estonians, thus becoming an integral part of culture. The mire has been a refuge from wars, diseases, or other people – a role played by the mires during World War II, when the so-called forest brothers hid there. Mires have always been a source of berries, peat, and hay...

The biggest threat to Estonian mire biota is the impact of previous drainage The special environmental conditions create suitable habitats for many different species in the mires. 280 species of vascular plants and 153 species of moss grow in Estonian mires. Most plant species (230) grow in minerotrophic fens, 103 species in mixotrophic fens, and 45 species in bogs. More than 300 species of...