Page 4 - Tallinna Ülikool

About Estonia and Estonian mires
Mires are characteristic of Estonia. Estonia is one of the most paludi ed countries in the world having peatlands on 20.9% of land. In this, we are the third largest proportion in the world a er Finland (23.5%) and Singapore (21.2%). Large mires and mire complexes are shown on the map; thousands of hectares of mires are found
in every county of Estonia. e most paludi ed (with the largest mire area) is the Southwestern part of the country but the most abundant distribution of mires is in the valleys between the domes and on the banks of rivers and streams of south-eastern Estonia – about 3800 mires, most of them smaller than 50 ha.
e development of mires started a er the last Ice Age retreat 10-11,000 years ago and it still continues today. Due to the at surface and
the ratio of precipitation and evaporation (less evaporation than precipitation), paludi cation has been successful – approximately one h of the territory has been covered by the peatlands. Still, mires (peatlands with peat layer over
30 cm) today cover just over 5% of Estonian territory (2,400 km2), the rest are drained.
Mire drainage began in the 17th century. In the following centuries, this activity expanded and intensi ed, the peak arriving
in the second half of the 20th century, when it seemed that all possible places for agriculture and forestry were already occupied. To a lesser extent, peatlands have gone through
the construction of oil shale mines and settlements and roads. e multifaceted use of peat has been and continues to be important for Estonians, as it is for people of other European countries.
Di erent mire types have been drained to di erent degrees in Estonia. As a result of drainage and land use change, peatland forests, now just 12-14% of their former extent, and fen meadows, of which 16% is still extant, have been the most a ected, but even persisting mires deteriorate because of ditches dug in and around them.
What does drainage do to mires?
Drained and managed (converted to elds, forest, crops or wasteland) mires cease to exist. Also, even with a minor change of conditions, signi cant changes occur – trees and shrubs begin to grow more densely, sensitive grass and moss species disappear and will be replaced with common forest plants or with tall, robust herbaceous plants. All in all, the biota of the whole area changes because the habitats of birds, butter ies and other animals disappear.
How does the peatland drainage a ect the Earth’s climate?
e global impact of drainage is that natural mires that bind atmospheric carbon have become drained peatlands, where carbon previously bound is emitted, increasing content of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Although Estonia is small in area, the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted from drained peatlands is the second largest a er the GHG pollution from oil shale burning.
Why restore mires in Estonia?
You will get the answer to this question from the following pages.
Petrifying springfen with tufa formation in Kuusnõmme, Saaremaa county. / L. Truus
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TEN REASONS TO RESTORE ESTONIAN MIRES / 2019