The Legislative Framework and Community Expectations of Ecosystem Services in Estonian Forest Management

The study examines the extent to which the concept of ecosystem services is reflected in Estonian forestry legislation and how local communities and interest groups perceive and prioritise these services. Using a three-step methodology, the analysis combined (1) a content analysis of key legal acts—including the Forest Act, Nature Conservation Act, and related regulations; (2) a qualitative review of 26 forest management proposals submitted by communities to the State Forest Management Centre between 2021 and 2024; and (3) a comparative synthesis of legislative and community perspectives in order to identify their main areas of convergence and divergence. The findings reveal that provisioning services, particularly timber production, are most explicitly regulated, while regulating and cultural services appear mainly through indirect references. Community expectations, however, emphasise regulating (44%) and cultural (30%) services—especially habitat conservation, recreation, and landscape aesthetics—over provisioning benefits (26%). This discrepancy highlights a structural imbalance between legal framework and societal values. The study concludes that a more systematic integration of ecosystem services into forest management practice and regulations is required to achieve a balanced approach that accounts for ecological, social, and economic dimensions.