The project “Implementation of Natura 2000 in Estonian marine areas: site selection, designation and protection measures – ESTMAR” is implemented by the Estonian Marine Institute and partners (Environmental Board, Estonian Ornithological Society, Estonian Fund for Nature, BEF-Estonia, BEF-Latvia, Norwegian Institute of Water Research) from Novezmber 2007 till April 2011 with the financial support of the Norwegian financial mechanisms.

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the implementation of Natura 2000 in Estonian marine areas.

To achieve that, the project is implementing the following activities:

• Investigations for potential new Natura 2000 sites in offshore areas of Estonia
  o Inventories of seabirds, fish, marine mammals and benthic habitats in 10 selected areas;
  o Assessment of nature values of the inventoried areas and proposing the most valuable of them
    for designation as Natura 2000 sites;
  o Defining borders, protection regime and management needs for the proposed sites.

• Developing management plans for 6 existing marine protected areas in the coastal sea based on existing data. Management plans will be made for the following marine protected areas:
  • Kolga lahe SPA/SCI
  • Pakri SPA/SCI
  • Vilsandi SPA/SCI
  • Väikese väina limited conservation area
  • Kahtla-Kübassaare SPA/SCI
  • Kura kurgu SPA 

• Facilitating a constructive dialogue with social and economic stakeholders, e.g. fishermen, infrastructure developers, mining industry for sand and gravel excavation and tourism operators, to guarantee overall acceptance of the protection regimes to be implemented.

• International experience exchange and dialogue on project findings
  o 3 international seminars on different topics related to marine nature conservation.

• Information dissemination and awareness raising
  o Information leaflets about the project and it results;
  o A book on marine protected areas in Estonian waters;
  o Internet information about the project at www.sea.ee/estmar.

Project promoters:
Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu (lead partner) www.sea.ee
Baltic Environmental Forum – Estonia www.bef.ee
State Nature Conservation Centre www.lk.ee
Estonian Environment Information Centre www.keskkonnainfo.ee
Estonian Ornithological Society www.eoy.ee
Estonian Fund for Nature www.elfond.ee
Baltic Environmental Forum – Latvia www.bef.lv
Norwegian Institute of Water Research (NIVA) www.niva.no

Contact information:
Project manager:
Mr. Markus Vetemaa
Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu
Markus.vetemaa@ut.ee
Tel: +372 7375 096
GSM: +372 5153 269

Project assistant:
Ms. Kristina Tiivel
Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu
Tel: +372 5088 517
Kristina.tiivel@gmail.com

Ms. Kai Klein
Baltic Environmental Forum - Estonia
Tel: +372 6597 027
kai.klein@bef.ee