Private f orestry in Estonia Jaanus Aun Private Forest Centre , member of the board

1. Private forestry in Estonia Jaanus Aun PrivateForestCentre, memberoftheboard

2. General information Total land area 45 000 km2 Total forest area 2,26 mln ha (50%) Average growing stock 201 m3/ha Estonian forest categories: Commercial forests (69,4%) Protection forests (22,6%) Protected forests (7,7%) Dominant tree species in private forests: Birch (33%), Pine (28%), Spruce (20%) Annual felling volume: 7 – 10 mil. scbm Possible sustainable cut: up to 15 milj. scbm

6. General information-private forestry Area of private forests: ca 1 mil/ha (50%) Number of owners: ca 100 000 (includes very small owners) Owners types: physical and legal bodies (about 25% of private forests belong to the companies) Average size of forest property: ca 10 ha Very fragmented division of forest estates! Annual felling volume ca 6 mil. sbm Common forest owner: Ordinary Estonian, living far from property and having no forestry education

7. Private forests – tree species (ha)

8. Private forests – what to do with the wood? The structure of Estonia's forest-basedindustries consists of all of the main branchesof the forest industry, but the pulp and paperindustry is relatively small • Good domestic market for sawlogs- demand is higher than supply. • Unstable market for pulpwood– very little domestic market, most of the pulpwood is exported to Scandinavia. Domestic use is for the aspen and in very modest amounts for spruce and pine. • Energywood - a star of tomorrow(?) but looser of today!

9. Other owners • State forests are managed by State Forest Management Centre (RMK), please visit http://rmk.ee/en • Very little municipal forests • Very little forests of churches and congregations

10. Private forestry - roots Privatelandownershipwas dominant beforeexpropriationin 1940 All landbelongedtothestateduringtheSoviet era, privateforestsmainlybelongedtocollectivefarms. Ownership reform startedin 1991. Twowaysforre-creationofprivateownership: • restitution; • privatisation

11. Private forestry – situation in 2013 • Land reform almost completed • Many passive owners • Forest resources underutilised (especially species like alder, aspen) • Volume of silvicultural works (pre-commercial thinnings, restoration of drainage systems) too modest

12. Activating private forest ownersmore silvicultural work (aims for 2020: 30% more pre-commercial thinnings; tripling of area of thinnings) better growing conditions higher gross annual increment Challenges for private forestry

14. Measures to motivate forest owners • Tax regulations • Forestry legislation – less bureaucracy • A well-functioning support system

15. Support system for private forestry - organisations PrivateForestCentre CentralCo-operativeUnitedForestOwners Estonian PrivateForestUnion Estonian Timbertrade Center ForestOwner`sAssociations ForestOwners

16. Private Forest Centre Foundation under the Ministry of Environment. Private legal body, but financed by the state. People: 35 (+15 local controllers) Aim: promotion of private forestry Tasks: • Administration of subsidies to private forest owners (about 8 mil. eur a year) • Development activities for private forestry (supporting of associations, advisory system, training courses, information materials, international projects etc.)

17. Private Forest Centre SupervisoryBoard(5 persons) Auditing Committee Board(2 persons) InternalControl Administ-rationunit DevelopmentUnit UnitofSubsidies ControlUnit

18. Private Forest Centre - subsidies

19. Private Forest Centre – partner in the projects Projects mainlyinthefieldofwoodenergy: • Bioenergy Promotion • Woodenergy and Cleantech • WETNet (“producing” of supertrainersinwoodenergyissues) Exchange of experiences with forest sectorsinothercountries(mainlyFinland, Sweden, Germany, Latvia) All projects, that are targeted to activate forest owners are very welcomed!

20. Private Forest Centre – co-ordinator of support system Strenghteningthenetworkofforestowner`sassociations (FOA) by: • Providingdirectfinancialsupportand assessingitsimpact; • TrainingthekeypersonsofFOA`s; • AdvertisingtheservicesofFOA`stoforestowners (campaignsin TV, newspapers)

21. Forest Owner`s Associations Number of FOA`s – more than 20 active History: • first associations established in the middle on nineties. Attempts to organise wood sale and forest management. Result: collapse • New wave in the beginning of this century. Different approach: not for profit groups, only „soft“ services • Change from 2008 – FOA`s as providers of forest management services

22. Forest Owner`s Associations What could forest owner get from FOA: • Information • Advice (courses and individual advice); • Applying for subsidies from Private Forest Centre; • Support for silvicultural activities; • Representation in local policy questions (i.e. hunting, nature protection) • Joint wood sale (not in all counties!) Trend: from soft organisation to forest management organisation

23. Forestland represented by FOA`s (ha)

24. Advisory/extensionist system – individual advice Very strongly linked to the system of Forest Owner`s Associations! ADVISOR – provides advice ASSOCIATION – co-ordinates activities of extensionists on the county level PRIVATE FOREST CENTRE – trains advisors, finances provided advice FOREST OWNER – needs advice, gets advice

25. Advisory/extensionist system - advisor Prerequisitiestobecomeanadvisor: • Forestryeducation • Atleasttwoyearpractiseinforestrysector • Goodcommunicationskills A specialexamhastobeperformedin order togeta professionalcertificateofadvisor(certificateisissuedbyThe Rural Economy Research Centre) Intotalwehave 80 advisors, butonly ca 20 ofthemworkasfull-timeadvisors

26. Advisory/extensionist system - financing From 2014: • Everymemberof FOA canget 15 hoursadviceforfreeeveryyear; • Non-membershavetopay 30% ofcostsofadvice (from 2015 50%) PFC pays 26 eurforhour (butnotmorethan 15*26) to FOA whotransfersmoneyforadvisor. All coststhatexceedthislevel must be paid bytheclient.

27. Advisory/extensionist system - training of advisors Formingupofspecialtrainingpackageforeveryyearby PFC. Main topics: • Communicationtraining • Forestrylegislation • Taxationissues Foradvisorsthetraningisfreeofcharge

28. Advisory system – group advice Targetgroups: • StaffofFOA`s (incl. advisors) • Forestowners Divisionoftasks: • FOAtrainsforestowners; • PFC trainsstaffofFOA`s • Forestryschoolsprovidemorecomprehensivecourses Caseswhen PFC trainsforestowners: • Specifictopicscrucial all overthecountry (forexamplechangesinthetaxationlegislation) • Provisionofwritteninformation/trainingmaterial

29. Advisory system – group advice Methodology: • Publicannouncmentby FOA • 1-2 topics • Lecturesin- and outdoor (duration 3-4 hours) Mostpopulartopics: Taxes, subsidies, wood sale, silviculture Everyyearabout 2 000 forestownersparticipateinthegroupadviceeventsorganisedbyFOA`s

30. Challenges Smarter forest owner can not be the only outcome of provided advice. Advice has to lead to activities in the forest! A well-functioning advisory system means better forests!

31. Our expectations for the project Tolearnfromtheexperiencesofthepartners: • Howtheadvisorysystemhasbeen made attractiveforforestowners? • Howthegoodqualityofadviceisquaranteed? • Howisquaranteed, thatadvicewillbeimplementedintheforest? … and manyotherthingstolearn!

32. www.eramets.ee