Facts on the Swedish Forest Agencys formal protection and compensations
Since early 1990s habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements are instruments used by Swedish Forest Agency for protecting forests. Statistics are produced on area and compensation. As of the latest publication, compensation for infringement due to rejected felling in montane forests is also included in the statistics. The statistics are included in the Official Statistics of Sweden.
Description of the statistics
The appropriation allocated to the Swedish Forestry Agency for establishing new habitat protection and nature conservation agreements also includes the infringement compensation for rejected felling in montane forests. There are also other infringement compensations, for example, rejected felling due to species protection, but this is not yet included in the statistics.
Infringement compensation is paid to landowners who have applied for a permit but have been refused felling in montane forests, due to the presence of high biodiversity in the montane region.
A habitat protection area is a statutory way to protect small areas of great importance for flora and fauna. The reimbursement to the landowner corresponds to the decline in market value of the land plus 25 percent.
The nature conservation agreement is a civil and time-limited agreement. The compensation varies depending on how long the contract is valid. The time can vary between one and fifty years. For a 50-year agreement, the landowner receives 60 percent of the area's net conversion value in compensation.
The statistics include infringement compensation caused by rejected applications for felling permits in montane forests paid by the Swedish Forest Agency until 31 December 2023. Also, decisions on habitat protection areas up to and including 31 December 2023, including decisions that have not entered into force unless otherwise stated.
The statistics for nature conservation agreements include agreements signed by the Swedish Forest Agency, excluding areas covered by Eco-parks and White-Backed Woodpecker Action Plans agreements. The statistics include agreements that were valid December 31 2023, some agreements expire and the statistics are therefore slightly underestimated for the conservation agreements during earlier years.
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.
For both forms of protection, no overlap analysis against other types of formal protection have been made.
The survey is part of Official Statistics of Sweden.
All results are published in our statistical database.