The Swedish Forest Agencys formal protection and compensations
Here you will find statistics on habitat protection areas, nature conservation agreements and compensation for infringement to landowners who had been denied felling permission in montane forests.
In 2024, Swedish Forest Agency established 86 new habitat protection areas and 18 new nature conservation agreement. All in all, this corresponded to 660 hectare of productive forest land and a compensation of SEK 121 million. It is a continuation of recent years' record low new formal protection.
The reason for the low levels is that the Swedish Forest Agency had to reserve the funds for compensation for infringement to landowners who had been denied felling permission in montane forests. These compensations have increased sharply since the start in 2020, during 2024 SEK 324 million was paid out.
How much forest land is formal protected with habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements?
A total of 75,500 hectares of forest land was protected with habitat protection areas or nature conservation agreements by the Swedish Forest Agency at the end of 2024. Of these, 69,300 hectares were on productive forest land. Of the productive forest land, 34,100 hectares were within habitat protection areas and 35,200 hectares within nature conservation agreements.
In 2024, the Swedish Forest Agency established habitat protection areas on almost 530 hectares of productive forest land and signed nature conservation agreements for approximately 135 hectares of productive forest land. It is a continuation of the low new formation of formal protections in recent years.
The reason is that the same funds are also used to pay trespass compensation for denied felling permission in montane forests. These infringement compensations have increased significantly since 2020, as detailed further down this page. Historically, the levels of the Swedish Forest Agency newly established formal protection were highest in the years 2002 to 2005 when an average of 5,500 hectares of productive forest land was protected per year (Figure 1).
The average productive forest land area for new habitat protection areas in 2024 was 6.1 hectares. For nature conservation agreements, it was 7.5 hectares. The trend is that habitat protection areas have become larger over time, while nature conservation agreements vary more between years. See figure 2.
Which biotope types are protected?
The agreements signed by the Swedish Forest Agency are linked to specific biotopes. There are approximately 20 different biotope types. The most common biotope type for the nature conservation agreements is natural forest-like coniferous forest, which was on 16,000 hectares of productive forest land, which was 45 percent of all productive forest land within the nature conservation agreements, see figure 3.
The most common biotope type in habitat protection areas is older natural woodlands. They make up 23,000 hectares or 69 percent of the productive forest land area in the biotope protections, see figure 4.
How much is the compensation?
A total of just over SEK 3.2 billion has been used for the creation of habitat protection areas and SEK 600 million for nature conservation agreements since 1993. Distribution of compensation per county can be seen in figure 5.
On average, compensation in 2024 was around SEK 201,000 per hectare (total area) for habitat protection and the nature conservation agreements had an average compensation of SEK 43,000 per hectare (total area).
Average compensation is preliminary because it happens that the Swedish Forest Agency decide on compensation for biotope protection areas without first agreeing with the landowner on compensation. In those cases, the compensation will be SEK 0 until an agreement on compensation is made or until compensation is determined in court.
In 2009, an addition of 25 percent to the infringement compensation in addition to the market value was introduced for habitat protection areas. That increase as well as the increased compensation levels for nature conservation agreements introduced during the early 2010s can be discerned in Figure 6.
The compensation is affected by, for example, the timber value of the forest land, which means that it can vary between years depending on where in the country the new nature conservation agreements are located. The length of the agreement also has an impact, with shorter agreements generally having lower compensation. Many newly formed short nature conservation agreements can therefore reduce the average compensation for a single year.
Waiting agreement for formal protection
As 1 January 2024 Swedish Forest Agency is offering property owners waiting agreements pending formal protection, and they are also included in the statistics. Since waiting agreements for formal protection are signed in the beginning of the process of an initiated case it is not decided which form of it will be in the end, habitat protection area or nature conservation agreement. The agreement period for this form of agreements is normally two years. The agreement implies that the property owners refrain from forestry during the period. The property owners receive compensation in connection with the signing of the waiting agreement but entering into a waiting agreement does not mean that formal protection will be formed.
At the end of December 2024, 42 waiting agreement had been entered into, including 239 hectare and a compensation of SEK 280 000.
Discontinued formally protected areas
Some of the habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements are repealed if, for example, a nature reserve is established for the forest land area for which they apply and if the agreement period for some nature conservation agreements expires.
The statistics about current protected areas do not include protected areas that have ceased.
At the end of December 2024, 55 habitat protection areas have ceased, including 187 hectare and a compensation of SEK 7,9 million. In addition, 59 nature conservation agreements have ceased, including 254 hectare and a compensation of SEK 3,5 million.
Habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements above the border for mountain forests and nature conservation agreements that have high social values
Above the border for mountain forest, a total of 140 hectares of productive forest land is protected as a habitat protection areas and 780 hectares of productive forest land is protected as a nature conservation agreements. In 2016, the latest formal protection was established above the limit for mountainside, but the Swedish Forest Agency has paid out infringement compensation has been paid out for the denied felling of forest land in the montane forests during the years 2020 to 2024. The forest areas that the Swedish Forest Agency has compensated for infringement are not formally protected in the same way as the habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements.
Since 2015, it has been possible to sign nature conservation agreements in areas that have high social values. So far, the Swedish Forest Agency has agreed on 17 such areas. They comprise a total of almost 80 ha of productive forest land. The last agreements were signed in 2022 and 2024.
Infringement compensation increases and affects
In 2020, a legal process was concluded that resulted in the Swedish Forest Agency starting to pay out compensation for infringement to landowners who had been denied felling permission in montane forests. In 2020, only a few infringement compensation payments were made, but in subsequent years the number of payments increased sharply. In 2024, SEK 324 million was paid out in infringement compensation. (Figure 7). At the same time, the area has decreased of the Swedish Forest Agency's establishment of formally protected areas in 2024 to the lowest level since 1996.
An important reason why the level has fallen in the 2020s is that the largest part of the appropriation has had to be reserved for compensation for infringement to landowners who apply for felling in montane forests, but where permits are often refused depending on very high natural values.
Overall, over the years 2020 to 2024, infringement compensation to landowners who had been denied felling permission in montane forests on 24,500 hectares of productive forest land, of which 8250 hectares were added during 2024.
In Sweden, the mountain forest is found in four counties: Dalarna, Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. Västerbotten county has had almost 65 percent of the infringement compensated forest land up to 2024, while 33 percent was in Jämtland county. The remaining proportion was distributed between the counties of Dalarna and Norrbotten. See Figure 8.
More about formally protected forest land
The statistics reported here only cover the Swedish Forest Agency's establishment of habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements. Habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements are also formed by other government authorities and municipalities. The statistics presented here do not therefore give a complete picture of these instruments, only the formal protection signed by the Swedish Forest Agency. There are also other types of formally protected forest land, for example nature reserves. Complete statistics for all protected forest land is given by Statistics Sweden and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency later in the spring, in the publication Protected Nature.
The statistics for 2024 have not been compiled yet, but in 2023 formal protection was established on a total of 57 400 hectares of productive forest land.
