Meet your guide

Eleri Lopp is an Estonian conservationist, nature guide and wildlife photographer, and the founder of Naturestonia. Born on a small Estonian island and raised on the mainland among forests, she has lived close to nature since childhood. The woods were her playground.

She has been guiding for 15 years and knows the forests where animals move all across Estonia. Her greatest passion is the large carnivores. She has spent years and thousands of kilometres following bears, lynx and wolves through their territories.

Photography led her to conservation. The more she learned about nature, the clearer it became that it needs help. Eleri has defended forests in her own community and at the national level, first through appeals to ministers and state agencies and, when that wasn't enough, in court. Her fight for Estonia's wolves reached the Court of Justice of the European Union and ended with a win at Estonia's Supreme Court. She did all of this without hired lawyers, together with a team of volunteers.

Eleri's conservation work is unpaid. The court cases, the research, the school visits are all done on a volunteer basis. Naturestonia's tours are what make that possible. When you book with Eleri, you are directly supporting someone who spends her life protecting the wolves, bears and lynx you came to see.

Eleri has founded several Estonian nature organisations, including the Estonian Large Carnivores Association (MTÜ Eesti Suurkiskjad), the Kose Parish Nature Society and Estonian Wildlife Research (MTÜ Eesti Metsloomauuringud). Her focus is on Estonia's forests and its large carnivores.

Her approach is practical and hands-on. After years of negotiations that changed little, she turned to the courts, and the courts have delivered real results. In 2020 the state set a quota of 140 wolves. Her association challenged it. The case went to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled in 2025 that a species' protection status must be based on the best available science and, where doubt remains, on the precautionary principle. In 2026 Estonia's Supreme Court declared the quota unlawful. Eleri also contributed to the development of Estonia's large carnivore action plan.

Today her main focus is research. Together with scientists, she is looking for funding to study Estonia's large carnivores, and anyone who shares this mission is welcome to join. She also runs nature camps for children and visits schools to talk about wolves, bears and lynx.

All of this is volunteer work. Naturestonia's tours are what allow Eleri to keep doing it.

Eleri takes guiding seriously. Her aim is to show guests what is really happening in nature and to help them understand it. Like many Estonians, she is not a big talker, but she answers every question gladly and in depth.

She guides bear, moose, beaver and owl watching, lynx tracking, wolf hikes, birdwatching, bog hikes and night walks across Estonia. She never promises guaranteed sightings. What she offers is time in real wilderness with someone who knows it well. Groups are small, and private trips are available for couples, photographers and corporate groups.

For Eleri, guiding is not a job. It is part of a larger mission, and she enjoys every second of it.

Photography led Eleri to conservation, and she is grateful for that. She works in a way that disturbs wildlife as little as possible. Her goal is not the most beautiful picture but one that tells a story. The world is full of beautiful images, but how many of them show what is really happening to nature?

Recently Eleri has also started filming wildlife and is open to collaborations with filmmakers and productions. Her photos are available as prints or digital files, and photography guidance is available on wildlife tours.