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Europe’s energy policies fire up Estonia’s woodland warriors
In this episode of Europe Talks Back, Gail Rego tells the story of Liina Steinberg and her fight against the Estonian booming biomass industry. In the decades since independence from the Soviet Union, Estonia started relaxing its forest management practices, and large-scale logging has boomed to meet the demand for renewable energy and has become one of the EU’s largest exporters of wood pellets.
As Liina saw the forests around her shrinking, she took her fight from the streets to the courts. With the NGO she founded in 2020 - Save the Estonian Forest - she is campaigning against the pace of logging and promoting conservation. Her crusade is just getting started. Reporting on the ground by Isabelle de Pommereau.
“I’m not inclined to use the word ‘war’ easily because of what’s happening in Ukraine, but I can’t like describe it any other way than war on nature” - Liina
Key moments
00:00:04 - Intro
00:02:36 - Into the woods
00:05:44 - Birds at risk
00:06:43 - Past till now
00:08:50 - Industrial logging rumps up
00:10:03- Activism
00:13:52 - Pressure on authorities
00:15:37 - Credits
Credits and staff
The second season of Europe Talks Back is produced in partnership with Sphera Network, the first network of independent media in Europe to reinvent the media space and paint a new picture of the continent through impactful, unbiased, raw, and authentic stories.
The producer and executive producer of Europe Talks Back is Alexander Damiano Ricci.
The editor of this episode is Andrew Connelly.
The host and narrator of this episode is Gail Rego.
Sound editing and mixing is by Jeremy Boquet.
Reporting for this story by Isabelle de Pommereau.
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