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Several good reasons to visit Estonian nature:

• Estonia’s population of wolves and lynxes is one of the strongest in the world.
• Estonia has the world’s leading role in organising the protection and restoring of the European mink
• We have 3-5 times more bears per km² than our neighbouring countries.
• About 10 per cent of the whole Common Crane population in Europe visit Estonia every autumn.
• Black Stork, Hazel Grouse, Capercaillie and Nutcracker. 40,000 pairs Hazel Grouse nesting here
• Brown bears, wolves, lynxes, European beavers and flying squirrel
• Flocks of Steller´s Eider
• 8 species of woodpeckers
• Compared with Poland, four times as many Ural Owls and six times as many White-backed Woodpeckers breed in Estonia.
• More White-backed Woodpeckers may nest in one national park in Estonia than in the whole of Sweden!
• Atmospheric pine forests – habitats to Ural and Pygmy Owls
• 36 species of Orchids have been found in…

Almost extinct about 100 years ago due to overhunting, now a population of about 15 000 pairs. They mostly overwinter in Spain, and one gathering ground is Hornborgarsjön,Sweden, with an international public watching them do the famous crane dance.They bring in lots of money to locals.

Most fly to northern marshlands, but where I lived in the countryside North Stockholm, you could see them on every field. Quite unshy.

GR:  Kelp and seagrass form critical habitats within marine ecosystems.  Both grow in shallow water where they serve as essential habitat for animals, and important nutrient recyclers.  Compared to terrestrial vegetation, we know little about these vegetation types.  Biogeographers have mapped general distributions, but they have not made detailed maps of species associations. Kelp Forest Distribution (Woodward, Radford.edu) Seagrass vegetation/number of species

The seagrass vegetation map accompanies a report on the decline of seagrass due to pesticides washing from the land into the ocean.  The infographic below shows the distribution of seagrass genera in various habitats.  The authors point out that there have been few attempts to restore destroyed seagrass meadows.  Most attempts have failed.

Anna Brones reports on seagrass, and notes that it is disappearing at the same rate as the rainforest and coral reefs. The loss equals serious environmental and economic effects  (www.care2.com).

As in the…