There was 73,900 ha (17% of the county territory) agricultural land in use in Harju County (2016). As estimated, about one quarter of arable land and permanent grassland was out of agricultural use. A reasonable part of former agricultural land has been used for developing new residential or industrial areas – especially in the vicinity of Tallinn. A large share of Harju County is covered by forest. 215,700 ha (50% of the county territory) is forest land (2016). The forest is among Estonia’s most important natural resources and a source of a considerable amount of raw material.

Harju County is a region where the vast majority of population has no personal connection with rural production but is quite sensitive about the recreational, esthetical and cultural heritage features of the rural and natural environment surrounding the settlements.

The importance of Harju County as recreational and vacation destination (partly also due to the vicinity of capital Tallinn) as well as living environment (development of new residential areas) has increased in the recent years and will probably continue to increase. At the same time, substantial part of forests in Harju County have achieved maturity and may go under cutting in the coming 10 years. The trend towards more effective and intensive forest management directs the forest owners to use mostly clear cutting. So there is an increasing conflict between the interests of forest managers and other stakeholders. The conflict can be mitigated by introducing governance mechanisms that:

• encourage forest owners to actively deal with forest renewal and to use different types of cutting methods;
• increase the influence of local government on directing of forest management