The purpose of establishing national parks is to identify, preserve and showcase places in Estonia where natural and cultural values unique to a region — and to the entire country — come together. National parks encompass the areas most characteristic of our homeland.

Although from a distance Ida-Viru County may seem to be nothing but smoking chimneys, towering waste heaps and sprawling mines, the region is also home to the Alutaguse area, which is unique in Estonia's context.

For those who are not from Alutaguse or have never traveled through it, the area is home to, among other things, Estonia's longest sandy beach on the shore of Lake Peipus, the Narva River, with the greatest flow rate of any river in Estonia, along with its oxbow lakes and floodplains in Struuga, Estonia's most lake-rich landscape in Kurtna, our only inland dunes, known as kriivad, in Agusalu, Estonia's second-highest esker in Tärivere and one of Northern Europe's largest wetlands in Puhatu.

This has been a borderland settled since the Stone Age, historically a meeting point of different peoples, religions and cultures — including poluverniks and Old Believers. It was also the historic settlement area of the Finnic Votians. The national park contains their centuries-old burial ground, Estonia's largest barrow cemetery, in Jõuga.

Today, traces of the Votian language remain only in a handful of place names in Alutaguse, but one of the missions of the national park is to remind us of this fascinating people's memory here. Some of our oldest legends about Kalevipoeg were also collected from Alutaguse.

The uniqueness of the area was already recognized in the early 1920s, when the Estonian Naturalists' Society at the University of Tartu proposed creating Estonia's first national park near Paasvere. The plan was abandoned at the time for economic reasons. The idea was revived at the Ministry of the Environment in late 2017 and in November 2018, during the Republic of Estonia's centenary year, Alutaguse National Park was finally established. It was created to protect the landscapes and cultural heritage of eastern Estonia, emphasizing the fact that Ida-Viru County is not just an industrial landscape, but also a region of remarkable nature and extraordinarily rich cultural heritage.

The national park was established on the basis of existing protected areas, primarily wetland reserves such as the expansive Agusalu, Puhatu and Muraka nature reserves. As a result, forests were underrepresented in the park; they account for only 42 percent of its area, the majority of them sparse swamp forests.

In 2020, the Estonian Fund for Nature proposed extending the park to include the surrounding valuable forest areas, so that in the future we could speak not only of mires but also of Alutaguse's primeval forests. These forests, as they have throughout history, would also serve as a deterrent against military threats from the east.

Following this proposal, the Environmental Board assessed the feasibility of the expansion, involving various scientific experts. The assessment concluded that the current isolation of protected habitats, and therefore the existing protection measures, would not ensure the long-term survival of the area's natural values. It found that the proposed expansion area is ecologically significant and that extending Alutaguse National Park is largely justified.

Mining concession areas, recreational zones on the northern shore of Lake Peipus and, as a rule, private lands were excluded from the initial proposal. According to the plan, the national park would incorporate about 170 square kilometers of unprotected forest and wetland areas on state land. The proposal includes only 24 hectares of new unprotected private land.

The main goal of the expansion is to ensure the survival of a coherent, ecologically functional Alutaguse forest massif. It would also provide better protection for more than 60 threatened and protected species, such as the golden eagle, hazel grouse, flying squirrel, capercaillie, black grouse, willow grouse and black stork. These are species adapted to life in the vast, taiga-like forests of Alutaguse.

The national park promotes the development of nature tourism, increasing the region's appeal both in Estonia and more broadly in Europe and beyond. Expanding the park into a single unified area would allow for more diverse nature experiences, support sustainable entrepreneurship and strengthen the sense of belonging among local communities.

It should be emphasized that expanding Alutaguse National Park primarily on state land best ensures the protection of public interests and valuable natural assets without placing excessive restrictions on private landowners. Equally important is the fact that Alutaguse National Park, as a symbol of sustainable use of nature, balances the industrial projects already planned or under consideration in Ida-Viru County. Let us also remember that these impenetrable wetlands and forests have offered Estonians protection from foreign enemies throughout history and if well maintained, will continue to do so in the future.

Although it is often claimed that people are no longer important and that everything else must be protected, the reality is that healthy, diverse ecosystems ensure human well-being as well. This is especially true in the context of changing weather patterns, intensive consumption and overuse of natural resources. In difficult times, people turn to nature for relief and strength and our national parks are undoubtedly a national treasure that both reveal and introduce Estonia and our culture.

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