Interpellation Regarding Nature Conservation Restrictions (No. 626)

Session: 15th Riigikogu, 4th session, plenary session

Date: 2024-09-09 20:59

Total Speeches: 24

Membership: 15

Agenda Duration: 33m

AI Summaries: 24/24 Speeches (100.0%)

Analysis: Structured Analysis

Politicians Speaking Time

Politicians

Analysis

Summary

The Riigikogu debated an interpellation submitted by Rain Epler and Helle-Moonika Helme concerning nature conservation restrictions and the compensation paid to private owners. The questioners criticized the continuous increase in restrictions, insufficient compensation, and the fact that owners are not notified when restrictions are imposed (for example, in the Haanja Nature Park). Rain Epler also highlighted the question of the reasonableness of restoring land exchange.

Climate Minister Yoko Alender responded that the state is trying to improve the notification of landowners through a new wildlife information system. Regarding compensation, the minister confirmed that the fees are broadly adequate but require differentiation, especially in strictly protected areas. She proposed the possibility of raising the fee rate in special conservation zones (sihtkaitsevööndites) from 134 euros up to 200 euros per hectare, depending on budgetary possibilities. The minister also confirmed that an amendment to the Nature Conservation Act allows private forest owners to take firewood (up to 20 cubic meters per year) from forest habitats located in restricted zones. The minister did not support the restoration of land exchange, citing a lack of political support, bureaucracy, and previous transparency issues. During the debate, Helle-Moonika Helme and Mart Helme sharply criticized state intervention in private property, considering it essentially nationalization and comparing the situation to state intervention during the Brezhnev era.

Decisions Made 1
Collective Decision

No decisions were made

Most Active Speaker
Mart Helme
Mart Helme

Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon

Mart Helme (right-wing) delivered a sharp and emotional retort, accusing the minister of incompetence and the state's excessive interference in private life, and dominated the negotiation phase.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
20:59:01
AI Summary

The Riigikogu is debating the fifth interpellation concerning nature conservation restrictions, which was submitted by Rain Epler and Helle-Moonika Helme on April 3, 2024. Rain Epler is serving as the rapporteur.

Rain Epler
Rain Epler
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmed
20:59:26
AI Summary

Rain Epler emphasizes that the increasing restrictions placed on private and forest owners, coupled with the failure to notify them and insufficient compensation, necessitate a thorough discussion. Furthermore, the option of replacing state lands—that is, land exchange—must be considered as a form of compensation.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:02:20
AI Summary

Deputy Speaker Arvo Aller requests that Climate Minister Yoko Alender be given the floor so that she can respond to the interpellation.

Kliimaminister Yoko Alender
21:02:34
AI Summary

The state is improving how landowners are informed about natural values, developing the wildlife information system and the compensation scheme, reviewing permitted logging in protected areas, and aiming to achieve 30% national protected area coverage by adding contractual options for private nature conservation and avoiding land swaps.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:13:42
AI Summary

Vice-Chairman Arvo Aller says there are a few questions and asks Helle-Moonika Helme to answer.

Helle-Moonika Helme
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon
21:13:44
AI Summary

Rapporteur Helle-Moonika Helme argues that declaring the protection of EU forests a common resource and creating nature conservation areas poses the threat of restricting private property and state nationalization, the compensation for which, in her estimation, is highly unfair — 3,000 euros compared to a potential 35,000 euros.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:15:08
AI Summary

Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller emphasizes that the time has come.

Helle-Moonika Helme
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon
21:15:09
AI Summary

This is a rhetorical statement claiming that a person should be happy to receive 3,000 euros instead of 35,000 euros, and rejoices that the state took away their property.

Kliimaminister Yoko Alender
21:15:21
AI Summary

Climate Minister Yoko Alender stated that Estonian nature should not be protected based solely on European Union requirements, but instead emphasized national parks as a value belonging to the Estonian people, noting that the majority of conservation areas are located on state property, where the forests are visited three million times annually.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:16:43
AI Summary

The Deputy Speaker calls upon Rain Epler to ask the next question.

Rain Epler
Rain Epler
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmed
21:16:44
AI Summary

Rain Epler asked whether the rate, which was dropped from 33% and subsequently fixed, is now 30%; how subsidies can realistically be raised within the confines of the budget; whether the management of Estonian forests could be in harmony with nature; and if the preservation of protected areas is sensible.

Kliimaminister Yoko Alender
21:17:56
AI Summary

Climate Minister Yoko Alender stated that the plan is to protect 30% of nature: currently, this stands at slightly over 28%, meaning approximately 2% more needs to be identified. This additional area will be divided into three parts—nationally strictly protected areas, the green network and mixed-use regions, and the portion utilized for creating natural resource well-being. The 30% figure would serve as both the baseline and the limit value, the identification and financing of which are being discussed in the Riigikogu, including through CAP packages, provided the necessary coverage is available.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:20:16
AI Summary

Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller said that Rain Epler has a question about procedures.

Rain Epler
Rain Epler
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmed
21:20:17
AI Summary

Rain Epler raised a procedural issue, pointing out that 30% is not the same as a third (33.333%). He requested that this discrepancy be officially recorded in the transcript and that the minister adhere strictly to the 30% figure.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:21:01
AI Summary

This was not a matter of procedures, but it was pertinent as a designation, and next, he called for the question directed at Mart Helme.

Mart Helme
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon
21:21:09
AI Summary

Mart Helme reflects on the privatization period of the 1990s and criticizes the state's heavy interference with private property, questioning where the state derives the authority to make decisions regarding a citizen's assets and mineral resources—and whether that authority originates with the European Commission.

Kliimaminister Yoko Alender
21:22:25
AI Summary

Climate Minister Yoko Alender explained that the 30% land target also accounts for the shore and coastal protection zone, and she withdrew Rain Epler’s 33% reference, promising to refrain from philosophical arguments in the future.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:23:20
AI Summary

This is a procedural note regarding Helle-Moonika Helme.

Helle-Moonika Helme
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon
21:23:21
AI Summary

Helle-Moonika Helme criticizes the use of procedural questions during the sitting, emphasizes that the concerns of private owners should be addressed directly, and notes that the specific question asked should have been answered instead of spinning around previous issues.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:24:55
AI Summary

The presenter could have answered Mart Helme's question and Rain Epler's remark regarding the percentage calculation, and perhaps even answered the next question, but on this occasion, only the remark was addressed, and the questions have now concluded.

Mart Helme
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon
21:25:42
AI Summary

Mart Helme accused the minister of insufficient competence and inadequate responses, highlighted the crisis in the forestry and peat sectors and the wastefulness of large-scale production, and concluded with the example of the parking lot built on the former flower garden in front of the Riigikogu, which illustrates the state's pointless planning and climate problems.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:30:18
AI Summary

Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller requested that three more minutes be added.

Mart Helme
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioon
21:30:19
AI Summary

Mart Helme asserts that the state is interfering in people's private lives, is neither a free state nor a state of citizens, but rather a state run by bureaucrats. He calls on ministers to 'hit the thinking button' and stop reading bureaucratic nonsense, instead focusing on creating genuine parliamentary dialogue.

Aseesimees Arvo Aller
21:32:24
AI Summary

Deputy Chairman Arvo Aller announced that he no longer sees any requests to speak, the Minister did not wish to add anything further, and today's fifth interpellation has concluded.