Human well-being requires not only material values, but also health and a clean and pleasant living environment The forest offers people a number of benefits, some of which (such as the amount of wood or the amount of mushrooms, berries, and medicinal plants harvested) are easily measurable. However, the value of the forest as a recreational place is difficult to measure in money. Human well-being...

Sustainable forestry helps to maintain or increase carbon stocks in the long run Forests generally store 20–100 times more carbon per area unit than, for example, arable land and therefore play an important role in regulating the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. The role of forests in mitigating climate change is important – the forest produces oxygen from carbon dioxide during...

Today, in addition to providing economic benefits, the forest is also seen as a carrier of cultural function Estonians have been tied to the forest throughout our history and it also forms a part of our culture. According to the classical theory of the origin of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the ancestors of Estonians have also spent millennia moving from the forest zone of the Urals to the Baltic...

Temperate forests are important for carbon sequestration The most important cycles of matter in the biosphere are the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulphur cycles, as well as the water and rock cycles. The forest is a plant community with the largest biomass and a very large area of the biosphere, covering about a quarter of the planet’s land area. The role of forests is important...

Without protected areas, it would be difficult to ensure the survival of species and communities The task of classical nature conservation is to protect endangered species, but also to preserve the diversity of communities and habitats, to create feeding, resting, and breeding areas for wild game, birds and fish, and to protect landscapes, water, or soil. Without protected areas, it is difficult...

The aim of the AEWA is to protect migratory waterbirds and their habitats throughout the migratory range The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) aims to provide international protection to migratory waterbirds and their habitats throughout the migratory area of the African-Eurasian migratory route of arctic waterbirds. The agreement is administered by the...

The Aarhus Convention is an important cornerstone of environmental policy and law The Aarhus Convention regulates access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters. The convention is one of the conventions of the UN. The Aarhus Convention is an important cornerstone of environmental policy and law. It gives people the opportunity to have...

The purpose of the Bern Convention is to protect all species of wild flora and fauna, as well as their habitats The Bern Convention, which was concluded in Switzerland in 1979 and entered into force three years later, aims to protect all species of wild flora and fauna, as well as their habitats. Particular attention is paid to the protection of endangered species, including migratory species. The...

A country party to the convention must ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity at the national level The Convention on Biological Diversity is the most comprehensive international agreement on the conservation and use of nature. It provides for the protection of nature in all its richness and at all levels. Biodiversity is protected at the level of the gene, species...

The purpose of the Bonn Convention is to protect migratory species of terrestrial and aquatic animals throughout their migratory range The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, which was concluded in Bonn, Germany, in 1979 and entered into force four years later, aims to protect migratory terrestrial and aquatic species throughout their migratory range. The...