Voluntary set-asides and certified forest land

The statistics describe the extent of forest land voluntarily set aside by forest owners for nature conservation purposes, as well as the area covered by the two forest certification schemes PEFC and FSC.

According to the Swedish Forest Agency’s definition, a voluntary set-aside is an area of continuous productive forest land for which landowners have voluntarily decided not to carry out measures that may harm its natural, cultural heritage or social values. The area must be documented in a forest management plan or another document.

Forest certification is a voluntary commitment that forest owners can make to support responsible and sustainable forestry. Certification means that forest owners undertake to comply with specific requirements regarding forest management, environmental consideration and working conditions in forestry.

In 2025:

1.4 million hectares were voluntarily set aside,

14.9 million hectares were certified.

Area of voluntary set-asides

Since measurements began in 1996, the area of voluntary set-asides has increased over time, rapidly until around 2010 and more gradually thereafter, as shown in Figure 1.

Individual landowners accounted for 41 percent of the area of voluntary set-asides, while other landowners accounted for 59 percent. Individual landowners are natural persons and estates of deceased persons, while other landowners are limited companies, public landowners, religious communities, and other legal entities.

These proportions can be compared with ownership of productive forest land outside formally protected areas, where individual landowners account for 52 percent and other landowners for 48 percent. This means that voluntary set-asides account for just under 5 percent of productive forest land outside formally protected areas among individual landowners, compared with almost 8 percent among other landowners.

Eighty-four percent of the voluntary set-aside area, corresponding to just under 1.2 million hectares, was located within forest land certified under FSC or PEFC. Non-certified forest land accounted for the remaining 200,000 hectares. In total, 8 percent of certified forest land was voluntarily set aside.

The largest area of voluntary set-asides was found in Jämtland County, followed by Norrbotten County. The smallest area was found in Gotland County. Figure 3 presents data for all counties.

Voluntary set-asides can also be related to the total area of productive forest land. Figure 4 shows voluntary set-asides as a proportion of productive forest land outside formally protected areas in each county. Jämtland County had the highest proportion, at almost 9 percent, while Gotland County had the lowest.

Statistics by county and ownership category involve somewhat greater uncertainty than estimates for the country as a whole, since some respondents to the survey are unable to provide an exact breakdown. In such cases, the Swedish Forest Agency uses supplementary data or assumptions to distribute the statistics by county and ownership category.

Certified area

The area of productive forest land certified under PEFC and/or FSC amounted to 14.9 million hectares in 2025, corresponding to approximately 67 percent of all productive forest land outside formally protected areas. This represents an increase of about 225,000 hectares compared with 2024.

Seventy-seven percent of the certified area was double-certified under both FSC and PEFC. Eighteen percent was certified only under PEFC, while 5 percent was certified only under FSC (Figure 5).

The most certified forest land area is in Norrbotten County, where approximately 2.2 million hectares of forest land are certified. On Gotland, about 27,000 hectares of forest land is certified, which is the smallest area of all counties. Figure 6 shows certified productive forest land area for all counties.

Forest status in geocoded voluntary set-asides

The statistics on voluntary set-asides presented here are based on data collected through surveys or maps (geodata). Together, these two data sources provide an overall picture of voluntary set-asides. Geodata also makes it possible to produce more detailed statistics through combinations with data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory.

However, geodata is available for only 45 percent of the voluntary set-aside area and is concentrated in Norrland and Svealand. As a result, the statistics presented in this section do not provide a complete picture of forest conditions in all voluntary set-asides.

The following descriptions of forest characteristics therefore refer only to the 45 percent of voluntary set-asides for which geodata is available and should not be interpreted as representative of all voluntary set-asides.

The forest status in geocoded voluntary set-asides is an estimate carried out in 2022.

Coniferous forest dominance

More than 90 percent of the voluntary set-aside area consisted of coniferous forest, compared with 83 percent for other productive forest land. Like productive forest land in general, voluntary set-asides were dominated by coniferous forest (Figure 7). The dominance of coniferous forest was greatest in Southern Norrland, where 95 percent of the area consisted of coniferous forest.

More old forest in voluntary set-aside than in other forest

Within voluntary set-asides, 89 percent of the forest area consisted of forest older than 81 years. Forest older than 121 years accounted for 66 percent of the area. The corresponding proportions for other productive forest land were 26 percent and 13 percent, respectively (Figure 8).

The highest proportion of forest in the oldest age class, 121 years and older, was found in Southern Norrland, where it accounted for 75 percent of the area. The lowest proportion was found in Svealand, at 44 percent.

More wood in voluntary set-aside than in other forests

The volume per hectare of both living trees and dead wood was higher in voluntary set-asides than in other productive forest land (Figure 9).

The volume of living trees has increased since the mid-1980s in both voluntary set-asides and other productive forest land. In voluntary set-asides, the volume increased by 65 percent, from 119 to 196 cubic metres per hectare. The corresponding increase for other productive forest land was approximately 30 percent.

The volume of dead wood in voluntary set-asides increased by 60 percent from the 1990s onwards, from 15 to 24 cubic metres per hectare. The volume of dead wood in other productive forest land also increased, although not to the same extent.

Similar proportion of deciduous trees and hard dead wood

Figure 10 compares the proportion of deciduous trees in voluntary set-asides and other productive forest land in relation to the total standing volume in each area. The figure also compares the proportion of hard dead wood in relation to the total volume of dead wood.

Across the three regions, the proportion of deciduous trees was approximately 20 percent lower in voluntary set-asides than in other productive forest land, while the proportion of hard dead wood was similar in both areas.

More common with older deciduous forest, old growth forest and nature-classified forest

The proportions of older broadleaved forest, old forest and habitat-classified forest were considerably higher within voluntary set-asides than in other productive forest land across all three regions of Sweden.

Older broadleaved forest and old forest are defined according to Sweden’s environmental quality objective Sustainable Forests (Levande skogar). Habitat-classified forest is defined in accordance with Article 17 of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).

 

• Last Updated: 7/11/2023