Ecotourism
Estonia

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The Estonians are one of the oldest nations in Europe who have had permanent settlement in one particular region. The ancestors of present Estonians arrived here about 5,000 years ago. Only about a hundred years ago the Estonians were mostly peasants, depending largely in their subsistence on the ability to co-exist with nature. This is also reflected in Estonian folklore. The indigenous natural religion endured for quite a long time alongside with Christianity. According to ancient beliefs some old trees, rocks, springs and tree groves were regarded as sacred. Diseases were cured mainly with natural products. The Estonians have preserved some traits of this kind of thinking up to the present urbanized period.
Drastic political transformations of the last century have had severe impact on the landscapes of Estonia. Estonia gained independence once, then lost it again for fifty years, and regained it once more. After the Second World War a number of villages were wiped off from the maps, many coastal areas, forests and wetlands became closed border zones and were left almost intact for fifty years. Partly due to the Soviet border guard restrictions, coastal areas were not built up. Also today a restriction zone of 100 metres to prohibit construction and preserve the untouched seashore has been established.