Want to cut down a Christmas tree in Estonia? There’s an app for that
It will guide you to a spruce tree in the wild that needs to be removed anyway, such as one beneath power cables.
Tallinn has just switched on the lights for its Christmas tree in our main town square. This also happens to be the spot where the very first ever Christmas tree was erected in 1441 (although our Latvian neighbours still claim the first tree was in Riga!)
In this article though, I want to show you a modern Christmas tree tradition we have here for selecting the trees we put in our homes.
In most parts of the world, choosing a Christmas tree just means popping down to the local shops for either a plastic tree or one that’s already been chopped down by someone else. Here’s what we do instead.
In addition to good saunas, there are two things Estonians particularly like: nature and digital services. And quite often, they all work together here.
Estonia’s state forest management centre, RMK, has a mobile app to help you explore the Estonian wilderness throughout the year. It works in Estonian, English and Russian.
At Christmas time though, the app has an additional purpose. You can use it to find a Christmas tree in a state forest that you can cut down for yourself.
It includes a map of where to find them, all the advice you need, and how to pay for your one-time tree cutting license.
RMK began inviting Estonians to cut down their own Christmas trees from state forests in 2008. Their main objective is to simply maintain the tradition and encourage Estonians to spend more time in the wilderness. Several state institutions and companies choose this option over shop-bought alternatives and sometimes even see it as a team building exercise.
There are a few sensible rules to protect our wilderness though, which are all explained in the app. Most importantly, you must choose a tree that wouldn’t be able to grow to full height anyway, such as one underneath power cables.
According to Estonia’s Forest Act, you are also allowed to take ornamental branches, such as for a Christmas tree wreath, as long as you do not harm the rest of the tree. Taking just the top off a tree, for example, is prohibited.
The state forests where you can cut down trees are marked in dark green, while private forests (where you can only cut down trees with the permission of the land owner) are marked in light green, and nature reserves (where taking trees is strictly prohibited) are marked in brown. Most helpfully, power lines are marked as blue lines. Your own location is shown on the map too so it’s easy to navigate.
We found our tree near Saku, underneath those power cables marked above. After asking the tree if it would like to come home with us, we cut it down and took it back to Tallinn to be decorated.
I confess that I made one mistake. You must pay for your Christmas tree before cutting it down, not afterwards like I did.
The app lists prices for trees up to 5 metres, which you can pay straight from your phone bill by calling a number listed in the app.
You can pay for trees above 5 metres too, although only by bank transfer. In case you are interested, a tree larger than 20 metres will cost you €640. Our tree was a modest 1.5 metres tall so it cost us €8.
Although this payment is difficult to police, it’s possible that authorities may stop you when carrying a tree and ask to see your proof of payment. And you can’t get away with saying you couldn’t connect to make the payment because even the forests of Estonia tend to have good connectivity.
RMK began inviting Estonians to cut down their own Christmas trees from state forests in 2008. Their main objective is to simply maintain the tradition and encourage Estonians to spend more time in the wilderness. Several state institutions and companies choose this option over shop-bought alternatives and sometimes even see it as a team building exercise.
Watch the full video
You can watch the full video we made about this whole process below here (and don’t forget to subscribe to our Estonian Saunas YouTube channel if you enjoyed it).
Thanks for reading
This Estonian Saunas blog is run by Anni and Adam. We export Estonian sauna design, technology, & culture at EstonianSaunas.com. Of course, we use apps for our saunas too.
You can follow our adventures on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. We also have a Facebook group for Sauna Builders & Explorers.
You can contact us at tere@estoniansaunas.com.
