Landowner Olev Matt has 60 hectares of forest in the Otepää Nature Park, of which about five hectares are under strict protection, while the remaining 55 hectares are in an area with less strict restrictions. Matt has been able to renew smaller areas of his forest as needed.

According to Matt, clear-cutting is the best way to take care of spruce stands, as other types of felling do not work that well.

"Because if you thin out a spruce forest, there will be a whole lot of problems. One, the beetle comes in, two, the wind comes in and tears it up, and three, very quickly the hazel bush comes up from underneath, and the forest can't regenerate," Matt said.

The Ministry of Climate, which is drafting legislation to ban small-scale clear-cutting in protection areas, says forest owners must now find other ways to manage their forests.

"Intensive harvesting methods will not be allowed in protected areas," said Taimo Aasma, head of biodiversity protection at the ministry.

Matt pointed out that managing very small volumes does not pay off for the forest owner.

"If you make a gradual or selective cut, the volumes will be smaller, and the transportation costs will be high. The end result is that you have to give all your wood to a paper mill or a pellet mill," Matt said.

Currently, Matt receives state compensation of €60 per hectare for forest land in a lesser protected zone. This amount has remained the same for 16 years. "It certainly does not compensate for this so-called non-existent management," he said.

Aasma said that a new compensation scheme is being developed, whereby landowners will receive up to €100 for one hectare of forest in a protected zone and up to €200 for one hectare of forest in a strict protection zone. This will require an additional €4 million.

However, according to the Estonian Private Forest Union (EPFU), this offer is not enough.

"Landowners whose land is affected by restrictions must have a choice. There must be an opportunity to receive these financial compensations. Or, if they really want a commercial forest, there must be a way to get a new one from the state. Or the third option, which is actually working quite well, is to sell the land to the state," Jaanus Aun, the head of the union, said.

The draft amendments will go to public consultation in mid-June.

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