Kiri

International Council on Monuments and Sites. 11 rue du Séminaire de Conflans

94220 Charenton-le-Pont, France Tel : + 33 (0)1 41 94 17 59

www.icomos.org

IUCN Tel. +41 22 999 0000 Rue Mauverney 28 Fax +41 22 999 0002 1196 Gland Switzerland www.iucn.org

Charenton-le-Pont / Gland, 21 November 2025

H.E. Mr Jüri Seilenthal

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Permanent Delegate

Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Estonia

to UNESCO

Ambassade de la République d'Estonie

17, rue de la Baume Paris 75008 France

Preliminary Assessment 2025/2026 – Additional Information

Estonian Ancient Wooded Meadows (Estonia)

Dear Ambassador,

ICOMOS and IUCN have commenced their work on the Preliminary Assessment request for the Estonian

Ancient Wooded Meadows.

A first meeting was held with representatives of the State Party on 17 November 2025. ICOMOS and IUCN

wish to thank the State Party for its participation in the meeting and the insights shared. In addition to

clarifications about the Preliminary Assessment process and timeline, and an initial exchange on the

rationale behind the submission of the request, the meeting provided an opportunity to respond to some

preliminary queries.

Following an initial review of the Preliminary Assessment request, ICOMOS and IUCN have identified a

number of areas where further details would be helpful to the assessment at this stage. We would be

grateful if the State Party could provide additional information regarding the following points.

A. Additional photographic and cartographic documentation

1. IUCN and ICOMOS appreciate the photographs provided within the Preliminary Assessment

request. Both Advisory Bodies would be grateful if the State Party could transmit further

photographic documentation of the potential nominated property and its attributes. In particular,

IUCN would appreciate receiving photographs illustrating the ‘vivid seasonal dynamics’ (pg. 22)

of the meadows, to support the written justification provided under criterion (vii). ICOMOS would

appreciate receiving photographs of the meadows, their immediate setting and of the associated

villages or hamlets. It would be helpful if the pictures could be accompanied by a map indicating

their location and titles denoting the features they depict. IUCN would also appreciate confirmation

of permission to utilise the photos in the final Preliminary Assessment report.

2. ICOMOS understands that this land use was widespread, and the areas of wooded meadows

were much larger; therefore, it would be grateful to receive historic cartographic documentation, if

any is available, showing the consolidated extension of the wooded meadows as these may have

been documented in the past.

3. Cartographic documentation showing the location of historically associated settlements, villages

or hamlets where the communities that took (and if existing, still take) care of the wooded

meadows lived (or still live) would be useful as well as information on whether their inhabitants are

still engaged in the traditional practices.

4. IUCN and ICOMOS would be grateful if the State Party could provide an additional map

demonstrating roughly the location of the full extent of the remaining 1100 hectares of wooded

meadows across Estonia, if available.

5. In addition, IUCN and ICOMOS would be equally grateful if the State Party could provide land-use

and vegetation maps of the wider areas surrounding each of the proposed component parts of the

potential nominated property, if available.

B. Historic development

1. ICOMOS would be grateful to receive some further explanations about the changes that occurred

over the last 200 years, particularly under the Soviet regime, and in the post-Soviet period, and

how and to what extent traditional practices were maintained and/or recovered. Additionally,

ICOMOS would appreciate receiving information on where these practices are still used in Estonia

and in the broader Fennoscandian region, if this is the case.

2. ICOMOS would appreciate receiving further information about past governance arrangements,

including land-use, ownership, labour organisation, and whether any elements of these

arrangements still exist today and about actions to recover what was disappearing or disappeared.

C. Attributes under criterion (x)

1. IUCN would be grateful to receive a summarised species list, limited to those species considered

threatened (according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species), endemic or near-endemic,

or of general importance to the potential nominated property, alongside a total species number, if

available. The attached table, in the annex, may be used to provide this information.

D. Historic and contemporary local communities

1. Further information about the communities that practiced (or still do, if this is the case) traditional

management and related activities to sustain themselves and their socio-cultural system would be

useful.

E. Protection and management

1. Concerning the management of the ‘Estonian Ancient Wooded Meadows’, IUCN would be grateful

to receive the current management plan of the Kalli-Nedrema / Nedrema Nature Reserve

component part and the Laasma / Viidumae Nature Reserve component part. If documents are

only available in Estonian, IUCN would appreciate a short additional summary of the management

plan in one of the two working languages of the World Heritage Convention (English or French),

in addition to the full Estonian language plan.

We would be grateful if the above information could be provided to ICOMOS and IUCN by Monday 19

January 2026 at the latest.

ICOMOS and IUCN would like to emphasise that the Preliminary Assessment process is distinct from the

evaluation procedure on nomination dossiers for inscription on the World Heritage List. At this stage, only

brief and/or summary materials are required, unless otherwise stated. Additionally, it is not expected all

documentation to be comprehensive, and therefore incomplete and/or partial information is also

acceptable and appreciated.

We remain available to clarify any of the aforementioned points, including through a meeting if requested,

and look forward to your responses which will be of great help in our Preliminary Assessment process.

We thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.

Yours faithfully,

Gwenaëlle Bourdin Tim Badman

Director Director

ICOMOS Evaluation Unit World Heritage, IUCN

Copy to Estonian National Commission for UNESCO

Ministry of Climate of Estonia

Environmental Board of Estonia

ANNEX

Scientific Species Name Common Name (if applicable)

IUCN Red List Status (Global) (if known)

Degree of Endemicity (to potential nominated property, to state party, to ecoregion)

Please follow the instructions below when filling the species list in the table above:

Scientific Species Name

Please use the currently accepted scientific species name according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (or other accepted classifications if the species is not included in the IUCN Red List).

Common Name Please enter the common name, in English or French, as provided by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (if existent).

IUCN Red List Status (if known)

Please enter the current global Red List category according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (please list only global status, and please do not list status as per regional assessments).

Degree of Endemicity

Species by notifying whether the species is endemic to: a) potential nominated property b) State Party c) ecoregion, or alternative geographic region.