Karl Hedin owns 40,000 hectares of forest and several sawmills, but did not recognize himself in the many alarm reports about the billions the moose cost forestry. Karl Hedin then made his own measurements on his lands in Central Sweden and the results did not agree at all with the official calculations. See no losses – I see no losses at all. The method shows errors. It is a projection of future injuries, which does not match reality, says Karl Hedin. Neither in the forest nor when the timber arrived at the sawmill, he could see anything other than negligible loss of income, which he explains by saying that bad seedlings are probably cleared while the forest is growing. But the Norwegian Forestry Agency, which is responsible for the calculations, does not agree that the current system greatly exaggerates the problems. – This is a well-proven method that is inventoried by professional contractors, says Ebba Henning Planck, wildlife specialist at the Swedish Forest Agency. Trusting the contractors That many people are critical of not recognizing the results that the elk grazing inventory shows (Äbin), she explains by saying that the method takes random samples that can make a big difference between areas, but gives a real overall picture. – We have professional contractors who carry out the inventory and we have to trust the work they do. We have also done a test together with SLU that the method is statistically correct, says Ebba Henning Planck, wildlife specialist at the Norwegian Forestry Agency. Shrink by a quarter It is the forest companies that finance the moose grazing inventory. The result then forms the basis for the hunting quotas for moose in Sweden. But despite the fact that the moose population has shrunk by a quarter in less than ten years, according to Äbin, grazing damage is still at roughly the same level. And Karl Hedin believes that the results are misleading. – Äbin proves wrong if one had intended to project quality damage in the future. It is not needed, put it down, notes Karl Hedin.
t4-general