Reduced funding means that the Swedish forests are threatened with disappearing more and more, as forest owners are forced to apply for felling in order to make the economy work.
If they are denied felling due to high nature values, the forest owners can still seek compensation, which gives the state duplicate work and high administrative costs.
Instead, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Forestry Agency now want to establish more nature reserves faster.
And it is in a hurry, the authorities believe, which is why already this year they are requesting that the government set aside SEK 450 million to form nature reserves in forests close to the mountains.
“The forest owner should not have to go through detours to get compensation and we need to ensure good stewardship of the state’s resources. Therefore, together with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, we request that they receive the necessary funds and it needs to happen quickly,” says the Norwegian Forestry Agency’s director general Herman Sundqvist in a press release .
At the beginning of 2023, the Norwegian Forestry Agency received around ten applications from forest owners to cut down around 6,000 hectares because the creation of the reserve is delayed, which cost the state 2.5 million kroner in administration and handling.