Green Assist and Forestry Europe: exploring voluntary nature credits in Estonian private forests

Understanding how markets can value forest biodiversity practices

Biodiversity is a cornerstone for forest health and climate change resilience, underpinning key ecosystem services such as timber production, carbon storage, water regulation, and disaster prevention. These services are critical not only for environmental sustainability but also for long-term economic viability.

In Estonia, the organisation Forestry Europe is leading a pilot project to explore how voluntary nature-positive actions in forests, such as continuous cover forestry, deadwood retention, habitat conservation, and protection of old-growth stands, could create opportunities for additional income. The initiative assesses how these practices might be recognised and valued within voluntary certification schemes or emerging biodiversity financing mechanisms.

Reflecting Estonia’s active forest sector and diverse land ownership, the project places a strong focus on local governance. It encourages dialogue and trust-building among key stakeholders, including forest managers, private landowners, environmental organisations, and green technology providers.

The pilot also draws on EU-level guidance, particularly the voluntary Commission guidelines to strengthen the environmental pillar of sustainable forest management published in 2023 under the EU Forest Strategy[1]. These provide a useful reference for identifying forest management practices that contribute to biodiversity objectives and inform the development of certification and monitoring approaches suited to multifunctional forests. 

How Green Assist contributed

Green Assist supported this pilot with a structured advisory assignment focused on private sector relevance and financial feasibility. A Green Assist expert contributed to:

• Reviewing emerging biodiversity certification systems across Europe and internationally, with a focus on private actor participation;
• Drafting the first elements for a forest biodiversity certification framework adapted to Estonia’s ecological and ownership context;
• Exploring investment models that could link forest owners with companies interested in biodiversity outcomes;
• Providing input on monitoring and environmental integrity safeguards;
• Ensuring methodological coherence with EU policies, including the voluntary forestry guidelines under the EU Forest Strategy.

This pilot offers a learning opportunity for how voluntary biodiversity contributions can be supported in a multifunctional forest landscape, and how local and EU-level expertise can be combined to develop workable approaches.

The project has encountered several contextual and governance-related difficulties, particularly due to persistent tensions between private forest stakeholders and certain environmental NGOs in Estonia. These difficulties have underscored the need for a more structured approach — both methodologically and in terms of stakeholder engagement.

In this context, the structured contribution provided through Green Assist — especially the methodological guidance developed by the expert — has been essential in reinforcing the project’s credibility and operational viability. It has allowed the team to define the outlines of a robust biodiversity crediting framework, aligned with EU-level ambitions, and tailored to the complexity of forest ecosystems and ownership patterns.

This pilot therefore provides not only a useful testing ground for methodological innovations, but also valuable lessons about risk mitigation, local adaptation, and the conditions for scaling credible nature credit initiatives in Europe.

“Green Assist has played a decisive role in helping us shift from concept to credible practice. Thanks to the expert guidance provided, we now have the foundations of a robust biodiversity crediting methodology adapted to European forests — and clearer pathways for stakeholder engagement and investor confidence.”

Eric BOITTIN, CEO at Forestry Europe.

[1] Guidelines on biodiversity-friendly afforestation, reforestation and tree planting
Guidelines on closer-to-nature forest management
Guidelines for defining, mapping, monitoring and strictly protecting EU primary and old-growth forests