Protected areas in Estonia

Protected areas of Estonia are regulated by the Nature Conservation Act (Estonian: Looduskaitseseadus), which was passed by the Estonian parliament on April 21, 2004 and entered into force May 10, 2004.

According to the law, protected areas are areas maintained in a state unaltered by human activity or used subject to special requirements where the natural environment is preserved, protected, restored, researched or introduced. The following are protected areas:

As stated in §10.1: An area shall be placed under protection as a protected area or a special conservation area by a regulation of the Government of the Republic.

In addition, the law declares following special protection areas, which are designated for the conservation of habitats, for the preservation of which the impact of planned activities is estimated and activities liable to damage the favourable conservation status of the habitats are prohibited:

In the time of the Estonian SSR, there were only five protected areas categorized as zapovedniks ("scientific nature reserve"): Vilsandi, Viidumäe, Endla, Nigula and Matsalu.

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