The condition of wet forests usually deteriorates due to the combined influence of several risk factors. The biggest impact of these is forest drainage and logging.

Drainage is extensive in Estonia: nearly a third of forest land is drained. Mire woodlands make up less than 7% of the land area in Estonia, but peatland forests that arise due to draining make up 15%. A large part of the current mire woodlands is affected by drainage, also in protected areas. As a result of drainage, peat starts to decompose. Over time, the water regime and habitat characteristics of the area change, and the area stops functioning as a mire. Drainage also changes vegetation. Due to the decrease in humidity, the mire vegetation coverage decreases, and plants from drier areas come to replace them. As a result of drainage, trees begin to grow faster, and the stand becomes denser. The resulting decrease in light causes mire species that require light to disappear. The number of natural water bodies is also decreasing, and floods occur less frequently, resulting in the loss of associated habitats.

In many protected areas, forests have historically been managed through logging, which still occurs in limited management zones today. However, regeneration cutting and subsequent reforestation mostly change the composition and structure of the stand compared to the natural one. Improvement cutting also evens out the stand's structure; leaving uniform and orderly arranged trees. Felling reduces dead wood amount and formation.

Sometimes, in order to improve the condition of habitat in a nature reserve, it may be necessary to modify the management around the protected area instead. The effects of drainage have a particularly widespread impact. In Finland, for example, it has been estimated that 80% of wetlands without ditches still show drainage effects.

Owners of private forest land within the Natura 2000 network can apply for Natura 2000 support on private forest land. The support's aim is to contribute to the sustainable use of private forest land in the Natura network by compensating private forest owners for income loss from forest management. The support can be applied for a forest area that is owned by the applicant and has been entered as a forest area in the environmental register (and thus also in the Natura 2000 private forest land support layer available in the Land Board's public map application).

With the help of the LIFE-IP project ForEst&FarmLand, an action plan will be drawn up for wet, dry forests and natuarl management of forets in protected areas. Read more about the project from the website.

The Environmental Board has prepared a working version of the plan for implementing forest protection measures, which would give forest owners the opportunity to manage their forests while preserving natural values. The plan and the strategic environmental impact assessment program prepared on its basis will be on public display until October 20.2025

The plan largely describes the practice of processing forest notifications, which was changed after the infringement procedure, and which the Environmental Board is already implementing today. In addition, the Environmental Board also proposes new measures in the plan to find a balance between forest protection and the interests of the owner of the protected forest. The aim of this plan is to offer forest owners the opportunity to manage their forests while preserving their natural values,. 

The solution described in the plan offers the possibility of allowing regeneration logging in the restricted zone, provided that it does not damage the forest habitat and that at least 50% of the forest that is at least 70 years old remains in the restricted zone after logging. In addition, the plan describes new protection measures, such as creating buffer zones around forest habitat types and avoiding cumulative impacts of logging. 

A strategic environmental impact assessment program has been prepared based on the plan, the aim of which is to assess the adequacy of the decision-making criteria described in the plan for protecting forest values.

The Environmental Board is waiting for questions and suggestions for the draft version of the plan and the strategic environmental assessment programme until 20 October. The documents are publicly available on the Environmental Board's website. 

The plan is officially titled as  the Plan for the Implementation of Administrative Conservation Measures for Forest Habitat Types and Species in Natura 2000 Network Areas. See the document: https://keskkonnaamet.ee/keskkonnateadlikkus-avalikustamised/raagi-kaasa/keskkonnamoju-strateegilise-hindamise-programmi