Eliisa Pass, a forest expert from the Estonian Fund for Nature, explained that the SMI results demonstrate that forests are still being over-felled. She further emphasized that it is a concern that Estonia's forests are becoming younger.

While it was expected that some changes would be made to the data, given the government's guidance that 70 percent of Estonian forest should be managed, this was a slight increase from the benchmark of 68 percent early on. However, Pass argued that the new figure is arbitrary.

"The fact that riparian buffer zone forests were now counted as managed forests and thus the 70 percent figure was reached – that is definitely somewhat arbitrary. It would require a more thorough review and deeper examination of how such a number was suddenly reached," said Pass.

The Environmental Agency also examined the reliability of national forestry data, revealing that there would ideally be more information available on felling. Krisela Uussaar, development manager at the agency, said one way of achieving this improvement is coming. Starting in the spring of 2026, remote sensing will make it possible to gather more timely information about clear-cutting.

"This means we will begin using it in various administrative and supervisory procedures, but also sharing with the public information about clear-cutting that has been identified through remote sensing," Uussaar said.

Pass, however, stressed that transparency in forest data is certainly positive, but due to over-logging, it does nothing to improve the condition of the forests.

Director of the Environmental Agency Taimar Ala also told "Aktuaalne kaamera" that although in the long term growth and logging in Estonia's forests are more or less balanced, the reality over the past ten years is that more forest has been logged than has grown back.

The proportion of both very young and old forests has increased significantly; in fact, the SMI results show that the figure for managed forests in Estonia stands at 70 percent, up from 68 percent.

Ala added that this time, a number of clarifications have been made for the inventory regarding which restrictions actually exclude forest management.
"We can say that the review of these restrictions has certainly not caused any protected area to disappear, nor is logging activity now taking place in strictly protected forests – certainly not," he said.

Ala added that the difference between the two figures, i.e., the 68 percent and 70 percent, derives from the fact that riparian buffer zones are now included as managed forest, since their restrictions do not fully exclude forest management.

In 2024, the estimated logging volume was nearly 11 million cubic meters.

The agency also says Estonia's forest stock has begun to stabilize. Around half of Estonia's land territory is forested, and in turn about half of that is administered by the state forestry commission, the RMK.

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