23.12.2025
Tanika Sandberg, RBE's leading environmental expert
In 2024, the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the South Pärnumaa County Plan confirmed that the negative impacts of Rail Baltica (RB) on the wild population of the Luitemaa bird area could not be mitigated. This meant that the Natura exemption process had to be completed and compensation measures had to be implemented.
The Natura compensation plan revealed that in order to compensate for the impacts of the construction of the RB on wildlife, 11 habitats in South Pärnu County must be protected as permanent wildlife habitats. These areas were protected in March 2025. In addition, restoration work had to be carried out in these areas in forests that were at that time in the sphere of influence of drainage and where their moisture regime had been significantly changed. Making the forests more natural by moderately raising the water level made it possible to restore habitats suitable for wildlife.
Today, we are pleased to say that the extremely necessary activities to compensate for the negative impact on the forest are approaching their final phase. During the on-site inspection of the restoration work and acceptance of the work, we were able to establish that although the handwriting of the different contractors differed slightly, this does not affect the functionality of the closed ditches and the restoration work has been carried out to a high standard.
Restoration work will be completed in ten areas by December 2025. The Venemurru wild boar habitat is also under construction with funding from Rail Baltic Estonia, and the Tolkuse nature reserve is under construction with support from state funding, where, among other things, the natural bed of the Mustjõgi River is also being managed.
The completion of work in both the Venemurru forest habitats and the Tolkuse nature reserve is planned for 2026.
The completed areas will be monitored under the RBE monitoring plan for at least the next 10 years to assess whether the abundance of wild animals has increased in the habitats. The first performance assessment will be carried out after the implementation of the compensation measures in the fifth year and the next in the tenth year.
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