Current situation
Making logging information operationally accessible is necessary for decision-making in the forest and environmental sectors at the political level, better societal engagement, as well as for monitoring and supervision, and organizing more efficient forest management.
Although significant digitalization of data has occurred in the forestry sector, there is currently no operational information on forest logging within the country. The most comprehensive information about Estonia's forests is obtained from the statistical forest inventory, which uses data that is 1.5 years old at the time of publication to provide estimates.
About the project
The goal of the project is to map the reporting obligations of both state and private forest owners, data flow models, identify overlaps, and find opportunities to standardize data, processes, and reports to avoid adding additional reporting obligations for forest owners. Additionally, the project aims to promote the implementation of new business models in the forestry sector or in collaboration with other related sectors.
Activities in 2023
By the end of 2023, a study conducted by the law firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal was completed to map the reporting obligations of both state and private forest owners regarding logging and forest data. The study aimed to identify overlaps and potential legal obstacles for standardizing data, processes, and reports.
Activities in 2024
At the beginning of 2024, a remote sensing pilot project was carried out to assess whether it is possible and to what extent logging activities can be detected using remote sensing technology.
The main objective for 2024 is to address the challenges related to the new reporting obligations arising from the implementation of the deforestation regulation.
The work by PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal (2023) highlighted the new reporting obligation for timber, effective by the end of 2024. The European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, which addresses the placing on the market and export of certain commodities and products linked to deforestation and forest degradation, requires companies and individuals to provide due diligence declarations for timber. The regulation aims to minimize the EU's share in global deforestation and forest degradation. As part of the regulation, businesses and individuals will be required to submit a due diligence declaration that includes the geographical origin of the timber or timber products, using coordinates or multiple points to define the location. Currently, no solution exists for this. However, the earlier-mentioned study proposed an initial vision for fulfilling this reporting obligation via data-driven reporting using e-waybill information.
In the framework of the Real-Time Economy Forestry Project, a public procurement was organized in 2024 to develop a solution for combining and transferring data between stakeholders, allowing the timber sector in Estonia to transition to data-based reporting to meet the obligations imposed by the deforestation regulation and create a prototype solution. The most important and complex issue is how to automate the transfer of required data for timber and timber products from companies and make it machine-readable, as well as how to integrate this with the European Commission's reception platform. The working prototype will be made available free of charge to all private sector service providers who can build the relevant services based on the prototype. This means that the reporting of the deforestation regulation for timber transported via e-waybill will be automatic.
During the testing phase, the solution was applied alongside the e-waybill in the same workflow. When a company started filling out the e-waybill, the prototype immediately created a due diligence declaration in the European Commission's Traces NT system. The test period was successful, and the solution worked as intended. It is also important to note that the prototype can be applied to fulfill the deforestation regulation's reporting obligation through means other than just the e-waybill. During the development of the prototype, the focus was on ensuring that the solution was technically reliable and easily integrable with existing systems. The goal was to create a user-friendly and flexible solution that supports the fast and efficient movement of data.
Plans for 2025
In 2025, we will continue the development and prototyping of the remote sensing service, building on the results of the pilot project. The service will aim to provide an overview of clear-cut logging activities in areas of at least 0.5 hectares once a month. The goal is to enhance the Environmental Board's oversight activities, while also simplifying forestry-related reporting and general planning. An important aspect of the service will be a public view, providing everyone with better insight into the logging activities. This development step is a major leap forward in the development of forestry-related remote sensing.