Forest fertilization remained low in 2023

Nyhet | Statistik - 03 September 2024

Forest fertilization was carried out on almost 15 000 hectares in 2023, a slight increase from the sharp decline in 2022 but still at a historically low level. This is shown by a survey from the Swedish Forest Agency.

The area fertilized has varied over the past 30 years, with the lowest level being 10 000 hectares in 2022 and the highest 80 000 hectares in 2010. The decline between 2021 and 2022 was due to a sharp increase in fertilizer prices in 2022, a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

Decreased area of forest regeneration measures

According to the survey, there is a general decrease in areas with regeneration measures, but the statistical margin of error means that there is no significant difference between the years 2022 and 2023. The estimated area of mechanical soil scarification has decreased from 197 500 hectares in 2022 to 167 800 hectares in 2023, while the planted area has decreased from 214 400 hectares to 188 700 hectares. The Swedish Forest Agency has been surveying forest cultivation since 1955. Forest cultivation is a collective term for both planting and sowing. In 2023, 198 700 hectares were cultivated, compared to 223 600 hectares in 2022.

Supplementary planting: record high in 2019 followed by a decline from 2020 to 2023

After the dry summer of 2018, 58 million supplementary plants were planted in 2019. Prior to this, annual levels since 2005 have been between 21 and 36 million supplementary plants were used annually since 2005. Since 2019, supplementary planting has gradually decreased, with 31 million plants being planted in 2023.

Continuous-cover forestry

The Swedish Forest Agency has been surveying the extent of continuous-cover forestry since 2020. The survey does not focus on individual continuous-cover practices but rather on the extent to which landowners intend to manage their land so that it remains continuously forested without creating large clear-cut areas. In 2023, continuous-cover forestry encompassed 778 000 hectares in Sweden, about 3.6 percent of the productive forest land. The largest proportion approximately 566 000 hectares, was managed by private owners, while around 212 000 hectares were managed by other owners. The estimate has a margin of error resulting in a confidence interval from 666 000 hectares to 891 000 hectares. This means that it is not possible to confirm any real increase or decrease from the previous year, despite small changes in the point estimate between years.

Ash recycling

Since 2024, ash recycling has been included as part of the statistics on silvicultural activities and Sweden's official statistics. The results show that in 2023, ash recycling was carried out on nearly 14 000 hectares, with 44 600 tonnes of ash (dry weight) being spread. From 2009 to 2023, an average of 78 percent of all ash recycling activities were carried out in Götaland, 20 percent in Svealand, and 2 percent in Norrland.

Explanations regarding the statistics

The statistics from the Swedish Forest Agency regarding silvicultural activities are based on three components: a random sample survey of small-scale forestry (owners of less than 5 000 hectares of productive forest land), a total population survey of large-scale forestry (owning more than 5 000 hectares) and a comprehensive survey of ash recycling on forest land.

It is important to note that some estimates are presented along with statistical margins of error. The interval formed by the estimate and the margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. This means that if one were to repeat the survey, it would in 19 cases out of 20 cover the true (but unknown) value. The size of the interval depends on the number of observations in the sample and how widespread the variable is. The margins of error are usually not written in text but are available in the Swedish Forest Agency's statistics database together with the estimates.

The survey is part of the Official Statistics of Sweden.