Renewable energy sources usage as a part of the Matsalu wetland management

Among management objectives of Matsalu wetland the need to harvest some of the naturally growing biomass as a means to keep the wetland communities open and diverse is a priority. At present part of the hay is used for animal fodder and small fraction of reed for roofing. However both uses do not create sufficient demand for biomass. The surplus is apparently large enough to cover totally local demand for heating but the technical solutions for its use are not very clear yet. The reed-beds over two thousand hectares and their average production exceeds ten tons of dry mass per year. Hay-meadows exceed four thousand hectares, of which about two thousand are currently in use. Average yield is about two tons per hectare. Large-scale of wetland's bio fuel resource would contribute to nature conservation objectives for the wetland, create new jobs in the area and reduce air pollution. (author)