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Forests of Estonia

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Almost half of Estonian territory (47.6 per cent) is under forest and woodlands; the area of forest stands has more than doubled during the last 50 years and is still growing.  

 

Estonia is situated on a border area where the coniferous Euro-Siberian taiga opens onto a European zone of deciduous forests. There are 87 native and more than 500 introduced tree and bush species recorded. Scots pine is the most common tree in Estonian woods — dominant in 41 per cent of forests, followed by birches (silver and downy birch) — 28 per cent, Norway spruce — 23 per cent, alders (grey and common alder) and aspen. 

Forests and woodlands are not evenly distributed in Estonia. The largest forests can be found in the northeast and in Mid-Estonia — a zone stretching from the Northern coast to the Latvian border.  

In many locations in Estonia, for instance in Hiiumaa and in the northeast, large tracks of primeval forests, a type long disappeared from most of Western Europe, have been preserved. 

Source: Estonian Institute