ABSTRACT
The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have undergone drastic upheaval in their political systems during the last century. The Baltic States were independent nations between the two world wars (1918-1939); at other times in their history, they were rst a part of Tsarist Russia and later the part of Soviet Union. Independence was regained in the 1990s. Changes in economic systems and land tenure, from the centrally planned economy of the Soviet Union to the free market and private ownership of today’s newly independent states, have signicantly affected land use, especially the balance between forestry and agriculture. In all the Baltic States, large areas of agricultural land were abandoned during the last decades and became available for afforestation. Mining operations also result in areas requiring reclamation, particularly the oil shale mined lands in Estonia (Toomik and Liblik 1998). Although afforestation was practiced in the Baltic States for nearly a century, the past several decades following independence have been the most active period. Many abandoned areas are undergoing old-eld succession following recolonization by pioneer hardwood species such as birches (Betula spp.), alders (Alnus spp.), aspen (Populus tremula), and willows (Salix spp.).
