Environmental Board deleted Natura 2000 habitats in Rõuge to benefit church property development

Botanists who surveyed nature values in Rõuge, Võrumaa, were shocked to discover that the Estonian Environmental Board deleted protected Natura 2000 habitats from its database to benefit a church real estate development. The agency also denied the existence of protected species discovered during the survey.

Botanists conducting a nature survey in Rõuge, Võrumaa, have raised serious concerns after the Estonian Environmental Board removed Natura 2000-protected habitats from its official database — a decision that appears to have been made in the interests of a church-linked real estate development project in the area.

The scientists were left shocked when they found that the habitats they had carefully inventoried and documented had been erased from the environmental registry. Alongside the removal of the protected habitats, the Environmental Board also denied the existence of protected species that the botanists had identified and recorded during their fieldwork.

Natura 2000 is the EU's flagship nature conservation network, designed to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. Removing documented sites from the database without scientific justification would represent a serious breach of both Estonian environmental law and European Union nature protection obligations.

The case raises troubling questions about the independence of Estonia's Environmental Board and whether institutional pressure can override scientific findings when commercial or religious development interests are at stake. Environmental experts and conservation groups are expected to demand a full explanation from the agency regarding the decision-making process behind the deletions.