1. Estonia, Saaremaa- Positively surprising. Saaremaa Local Governments Association www.saaresol.ee www.visitsaaremaa.ee www.kuressaare.ee

2. Area 45,227 km 2 (similar in size to Denmark or the Netherlands) Population 1.34 million (68% Estonians, 25 % Russians) Capital Tallinn (403,000) Official language Estonian (belongs to Fenno-Ugric language group, similar to Finnish language) Currency Estonia joined eurozone in January 2011 The largest island: Saaremaa Member of EU and NATO since 2004 Member of Schengen zone since 2007 Estonia is the heart of the Baltic Sea.

3. Estonia - the best kept secret of Scandinavia By geographic location we belong to the Baltic region By language we belong to Scandinavia By allies we belong to Europe By the prevailing religion we belong to Germany By history we belong to Sweden, Denmark, Livonia and Russia By climate we belong to the North

5. General Facts about Saaremaa Area: 2922 km² (7% of the territory of Estonia) Five permanently inhabited islands: Saaremaa (the largest island of Estonia and second largest in the Baltic Sea), Muhu, Ruhnu, Abruka, Vilsandi More than 700 smaller islands and islets Coastline: 1200 kilometres

7. Saare County Saaremaa Local Governments Association = 16 local municipalities: Town Kuressaare and 15 rural municipalities Saare County Government Population 35 231 (2,6% of Estonian population) Main town Kuressaare (15 122 inhabitants) Territory 2,922 km² (6,5% of Estonian territory) Saare County consists of islands: Saaremaa – the main and biggest; Muhu, Ruhnu, Abruka, Vilsandi

8. Saare county enterprises Electronical companies – 3 Boat-building companies – 3 Buiding companies – 6…. Tourism - accomodation places - 214 –incl. over 4000 beds - hotels and spaas -22 - B & B, holiday houses, questhouses etc. Agriculture & fishery Services – incl. trade, transport, real estate market

9. Tourism Estimated number of visitors per year 500 000 (Mobile positioning survey) 61% domestic visitors, 39% foreign visitors (most of them from Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany) Kuressaare town has only 15 000 permanent inhabitants, while there are 1,230 beds in the spas, making Kuressaare probably the most spa-dense town in the world.

10. The Geopark on Saaremaa

11. Saaremaa and its islets are famous for the richness of geological heritages or geotopes. The most famous geotope on the island of Saaremaa is Kaali meteorite crater field, 9 meteorite craters (the main crater and 8 collateral ones) are located on the one square kilometre. This is the most impressive crater field in the whole Eurasia. Kaali main crater Crater no. 4

12. Panga Cliff is the highest (22 m) and the most famous

13. Activities and involvement of Saaremaa Local Governments into the planning and protection of landscape Many interests of stakeholders cross on the landscape of Saaremaa coastline and protected green areas. The role of municipalities is to compose the comprehensive planning The comprehensive plan has to describe all restrictions and permissions of land use. Municipalities have to compile the building ordinance

14. Saaremaa Green-net- restrictions of planning (the thematic plan, 2008)

15. NATURA 2000- the Nature Directive

16. NATURA 2000 – the Bird Directive

17. Building heritages

18. THANK YOU! Erika Thalheim Saaremaa Local Governments Association sol@tt.ee