TALLINN, 14 March 2025 – Although the Environmental Board planned to protect forests to compensate the impact of the Rail Baltic project on the nature, as a result of its shambolic organisation of work the Board issued a logging permit for the compensation areas in Southern Pärnu County proposed for the protection of the habitats of the capercaillie Among other fellings, 17 hectares of forest were felled, resulting in the destruction of compensation   forests considered to be the best habitats for the capercaillie, and a restricted area 26 times bigger than the current one had to be designated as compensation. In addition, the felling delayed the planning of the Rail Baltic railway route for almost seven months.

Although both the Environmental Board and the State Forest Management Centre (RMK) knew which forests and their buffer areas were intended to replace the habitats of the endangered capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)  that would be destroyed by the construction of Rail Baltic, the Environmental Board granted the RMK logging permits, which resulted in the felling of 17 hectares of the most valuable forest planned as a habitat for the capercaillie in addition to other forests. In total, the Environmental Board issued felling permits to the RMK and private forest owners for 1,183 hectares (the share of RMK in this was 1,108 hectares), but most of this, however, was not felled.

“It seems that the situation that emerged at both the Environmental Board and the State Forest Management Centre was one where the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing, and the nature, forest management and the railway project suffered,” said Auditor General Janar Holm. “As seventeen hectares of forest was felled, an additional 443 hectares of forest had to be allocated to compensate for the damage caused to habitats.”

The Environmental Board granted permission for felling in the Reiu region in the Rail Baltic compensation area and its buffer zone in late 2023 and early 2024 – in areas selected to compensate for damage caused by the construction of the new railway. The fact that felling had been carried out in the compensation area came out by accident on 28 January 2024. The felling carried out by the State Forest Management Centre (RMK) jeopardised the development of a project of overriding public interest and the adoption of the county plan of Southern Pärnu County was delayed by around seven months, as new areas suitable for the capercaillie had to be found in commercial forests to replace the felled areas.

As a result of the actions of the Environmental Board and the RMK damaged the areas which were intended to compensate for the damage caused to Natura 2000 sites. At the same time, the felling of compensation areas reduced the chances that habitats destroyed by the construction of Rail Baltic would be compensated in a way that would actually meet the needs of the capercaillie and improve the status of the population there.

The suitability of the new proposed 443 hectares of compensation areas can only be determined after several years. Should the measures of the compensation scheme fail, i.e. should the capercaillie population in the area not recover to the necessary extent, the compensation scheme will have to be revised in the future, which may mean further restrictions on commercial forests.

According to the Environmental Board and the RMK, the grant of felling permits in the compensation areas related to the construction of Rail Baltic and in the buffer zones of these areas was correctly decided. However, the National Audit Office sees that the Board did not comply with the principles of the Administrative Procedure Act and the case law of the Supreme Court when processing logging permits, as significant discretionary errors were made and the Board did not duly apply the precautionary principle. The Environmental Board justified the situation by stating that the information had not been included on the map layer and the official who issued the logging permits was not aware of the natural values and proposed restrictions in the area.

The RMK stated that, although they were involved in the process of selecting the compensation areas and approved the plan, they did not understand the content of the restrictions. As the plan with the restrictions set out in the compensation scheme had not yet been established, there were no legal restrictions on felling in the area.

However, after the Rail Baltic case came to light, it became clear that there were really no obstacles that would have prevented the Environmental Board from acting swiftly and imposing restrictions on the proposed compensation areas. The new areas were subsequently restricted in the Environmental Board’s map system within a few days.

The National Audit Office draws attention to the fact that, according to the case law, a logging permit is an ordinary administrative act, which is why the Environmental Board should take into account all the information that is relevant for decision-making when issuing a logging permit. It cannot be based solely on whether or not the information is available in the map layer of the Estonian Nature Information System (EELIS).

Secondly, both the Environmental Board and the RMK should take into account the precautionary principle of environmental law in their activities. This means that when planning and implementing its activities, the Board should take a conservative approach, i.e. if the activity has a potentially adverse effect on a protected or soon-to-be protected natural values, it should rather refrain from such activities. The Environmental Board must also be ready to promptly initiate a formal process for the protection of a site, if the information available indicates that this is justified.

Thirdly, as the changes to the Board’s organisation of work made in 2024 showed, nothing prevented the Environmental Board from entering the Rail Baltic compensation areas and buffer zones in the EELIS.

The National Audit Office recommended already in its 2023 audit “Forest Felling in Protected Areas” that the Environmental Board should ensure that the impact of felling on natural values is assessed before felling permits are approved. The National Audit Office also advised against allowing felling in areas that should be protected. Giving permission for felling in the Rail Baltic compensation areas shows that the Environmental Board has failed to implement these recommendations, and that the organisation of work in the Board is still inadequate, which could lead to damage to nature.

The National Audit Office reiterates its recommendation to the Environmental Board to assess the impact of felling on the natural values of the forest area and the surrounding areas before granting a felling permit. The internal flow of information and cooperation between departments should be improved. Above all, it should be ensured that information is passed between the Forest Department and the Nature Conservation Department, to exclude cases where permission to fell high-value forests is given before they are taken under protection.

Background

The objective of the audit was to assess whether and how the Environmental Board ensures that the impact of logging on natural values is assessed before approving a permit for logging in a protected forest, and whether the information in the environmental registers is up-to-date and allows to avoid making environmentally damaging decisions. Implementation of the recommendations made in the 2023 audit “Forest Felling in Protected Areas” was assessed in the audit.

Priit Simson

Communication Manager of the National Audit Office

+372 640 0777

+372 5615 0280

[email protected]

[email protected]

http://www.riigikontroll.ee

• Posted: 3/14/2025 10:00 AM
• Last Update: 3/13/2025 8:52 PM
• Last Review: 3/13/2025 8:52 PM