The Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF) has hit back at claims from environmental NGOs that forestry practices in Estonia are unsustainable.
A letter from NGOs to the Estonian government and parliament has expressed concern at the use of unsustainable forest management practices in the country, but CEPF president Christer Segerstéen said the history of sustainable forest management in Nordic countries and the Baltic states undermined this argument.
He cited the recent State of Europe’s Forests report, published by the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, the United Nations Economic Council and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, which acknowledges that sustainable forest management practices are rife in the Nordic/Baltic area and certification is around 75% in Sweden and approaching 100% in Norway and Finland.
This is combined with increases in protected areas and the level of natural regeneration, which is beefing up the non-production area of forests and promoting biodiversity and protection
of Europe’s forests.
