On 14 August 1910, the Riga Society of Naturalists rented the Vaika Islands in West Saaremaa where they prohibited all disturbance to seafowl. This was made possible by Artur Toom, an ornithologist and the keeper of the Vilsandi lighthouse. The first nature reserve in Estonia was established. In December 1935, the acting state elder Konstantin Päts signed the Nature Conservation Act and the State...

A growing concern about the quality of landscapes and insufficient measures for landscape management led the European Conference of Local and Regional Authorities to approve the proposal to develop a landscape convention draft in 1994. After years of preparation, the European Landscape Convention was adopted in Florence on 20 October 2000. The convention entered into force four years later, when...

The Kihnu native sheep is a local landrace breed. Initially, the Kihnu native was a pan-Estonian breed that could be found everywhere in the country. However, by the beginning of the 21st century, the breed had only survived on Kihnu Island Descendent of the mouflon sheep, The Kihnu native sheep belongs to the group of Northern European short-tailed sheep who have been located in Northern Europe...

The Estonian native cattle is our cultural heritage that we need to preserve for future generations. We will never know when the genes of Estonian cattle need to be used in developing new breeds. The Estonian native cattle is the oldest native dairy cattle breed in Estonia. This breed has been developed for over 100 years. The earliest documented notes date back 243 years. In 1845, landowner...

Indigenous domesticated animals or native breeds have evolved in a partnership between man and nature. Compared to purposefully developed production breeds, there is a large intrapopulation diversity in the conformation of native breeds. It is important to ensure that native breeds retain the traits that people have once valued as well as to uphold the practice of consuming their produce. The...

Implementation, integration into decision-making In 2018, a preliminary spatial and juridical analysis of Estonian green infrastructure as it has been implemented so far in the county-wide spatial plans and comprehensive plans according to the Planning Act, was conducted in the course of the project ELME. The step-by-step guidelines for planners for enhancing green network and taking into account...

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. LIFE IP CleanEst (2019–2028) is developing and implementing the preliminary methodology of 2014...

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...

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...

The first milestone (2018) of the national MAES project ELME was the completion of the road map (action plan) for national scale MAES actions in Estonia. Among other aspects, initial prioritization of ecosystem services relevant for national assessment and mapping was made and the results has been used in the next MAES-works as a basis. The road map for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and...