Carbon sinks in Estonia
Facts about Estonia


The total area of Estonia is 45,227 km2,
including 43,200 km2 of land area. More than
a half of the land area is forest land, one-third
is agricultural land, and one-fifth is covered by
mires and bogs.
The population of Estonia was 1.361 million as
of 1 January 2002.


The climate ranges from maritime to continental:
coastal areas and islands have maritime, and
Southeast Estonia has continental climate. Sun shines
1600–1870 hours a year. The sum of effective
temperatures (over 5°C) is up to 1350°C in north
Estonia and up to 1500°C in south Estonia and the
west Estonian islands.
The average vegetation period lasts for 183 days; 189
days on the coast and 174 days on the Pandivere
highland. The average air humidity is 80%. The
average precipitation is 650 mm; 500 mm in east
Estonia and 700 mm in Southeast Estonia.
Agricultural land in agricultural
holdings by size class of agricultural
land, 2001
Total
Number of
agricultural
holdings
Total
Natural person
Legal person
and state
Agricultural
land, ha
Total
Natural person
Legal person
and state

0>-<1
ha
0 ha
1-<2 ha 2-<5 ha
5-<10
ha
10-<20
ha
20-<30
ha
30-<50 50-<100 >=100
ha
ha
ha
68987
67984
118
75
13450
13368
14065
14004
16545
16473
10818
10769
7759
7684
2534
2505
1705
1653
973
910
1020
543
1003
43
82
61
72
49
75
29
52
63
477
875799
548130
0
0
4694
4659
19631
19553
52658
52431
76356 107814
76014 106703
60999
60284
64752
62745
66346 422549
61976 103765
327669
0
36
78
227
715
2007
4369 318783
342
1112
As of February 2003, 3,16 million ha, i.e. 73.1% of Estonian
land area had been entered in the land cadastre.
Agricultural land use



According to the Statistical Office and the
agricultural census of 2001, the end of 2001 ha
of agricultural land of the total 1.33 mln ha of
cultivated area had abandoned an area of
441,977.
The soil quality rating is below 35 points in
376,750 ha.
According to the SFI analysis, up to 150,000
ha of land is suitable for afforestation.
Changes in agricultural land use in
1993–2001
Land use
total from year19 93 to 2001
72,2 - 98,7 %
66,1 - 72,2 %
58,2 - 66,1 %
55,1 - 58,2 %
44,8 - 55,1 %
(3)
(2)
(4)
(2)
(4)
0,26
0,38
0,32
0,19
0,17
0,38
0,3
0,37
Change in land use
47
0,56
0,4
0,28
0,34
0,17
arable in 93
arable in 01
grassland 93
grassland 01
Numbers show % of agricultural land from total area of county
0,34
0,38
Biomass
O
th
er
t re
es
de
r
al
G
re
y
As
pe
n
r
C
om
m
on
al
de
rc
h
Bi
ru
ce
Sp
Pi
ne
500000
450000
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
To
ta
l
Thousand tons
Forest biomass and carbon storage
Carbon storage in forest biomass
Sources of CO2 emissions/removals, Gg
Total CO2 emissions by sector in 1990 and 1999
Source: Ministry of Environment and
Institute of Ecology