Formal forest protection means conserving areas of forest with high nature value, for which the landowner receives financial compensation. Nature reserves, habitat protection areas and nature conservation agreements are different forms of formal protection.
You as the landowner, as well as the Swedish Forest Agency and the county administrative board, can take the initiative for formal protection of an area, with the state offering compensation based on the economic value of the forest.
Propose protection for your forest
Propose protection of your forest
Are you interested in conserving areas of high nature value on your land and receiving compensation? You can propose that areas on your land be formally protected. You can do this by filling in a declaration of interest form and sending it to the Swedish Forest Agency or to the county administrative board for the county in which your property is located. You can also submit a declaration of interest digitally.
Submit a declaration of interest
Before you register your interest, you need to decide whether there are nature values in your forest and how you wish to protect them.
The minimum area you can register differs between parts of the country – from 1 hectare in the far south to 3 hectares in northern Sweden.
Form for registering an interest in formal forest protection
Register an interest in formal forest protection using My Pages
Steps on the way to forest protection. Support for filling in a declaration of interest (naturvardsverket.se)
High nature values are a precondition for formal protection
As a forest owner, you can select and propose forest areas of high nature value for protection and receive compensation for doing so. We encourage you and other landowners to take the initiative and register your interest in formal forest protection. The nature value of your forest is a precondition for protecting it with funds from the state budget. The areas selected are those with the highest nature conservation value according to the national strategy for formal forest protection. The strategy's priorities are also based on international commitments and targets relating to the protection of valuable nature.
National strategy for formal forest protection (naturvardsverket.se)
See what applies in your county (lansstyrelsen.se)
Different forms of protection
A forest with high nature value differs from a production forest in several respects. In forests with high biological value, the most important factor is usually variation, for example in the age and composition of tree species.
There are three formal forms of protection for forest with high nature value:
The aim of all these forms of protection is to conserve and develop natural environments that are of great value to animals, plants and people; they differ in size, level of compensation and duration.
Information about high nature values can be provided by the county administrative board or the Swedish Forest Agency.
If you have high nature values that are a priority for protection, you may be contacted by the county administrative board or the Swedish Forest Agency to be offered formal protection. You will then be informed that there are high nature values on your land, why these values are a priority for protection and what protection could involve.
Which areas receive formal protection?
The areas selected for formal protection are those with the highest conservation value according to the national strategy for formal forest protection, which the Swedish Forest Agency has drawn up together with the county administrative boards and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
A basic requirement for nature conservation agreements, habitat protection areas and nature reserves is that the area is wholly or partly a core of forest value. A forest value core is an area of high nature value that is considered particularly important for plants and animals. Value cores can be woodland key habitats or objects with nature values. Their locations can be found on a map.
Nature reserves
Nature reserves are normally used as the form of protection for larger areas. Each nature reserve has regulations and a management plan. A nature reserve means that the area's nature values will be conserved in perpetuity. The decision on nature reserves is taken by the county administrative board or the municipality.
https://www.naturvardsverket.se/amnesomraden/skyddad-natur/olika-former-av-naturskydd/naturreservat
Protected habitats
Habitat protection areas are used to conserve habitats of small, protection-worthy nature types in forest or agricultural landscapes. Habitat protection areas in forest are demarcated by the Swedish Forest Agency, and you as the landowner have the opportunity to take part in the demarcation. Once the demarcation is complete, we value the area in order to determine the amount of compensation.
You as the forest owner will be sent the valuation so that you can give your views on it.
Once we have agreed that the valuation is correct, we draw up a written agreement, which both parties sign. The Swedish Forest Agency will take the decision on the habitat protection area after the agreement has been signed.
If you do not appeal against the decision, the Swedish Forest Agency will pay you the compensation within one month.
The Swedish Forest Agency will mark out the area and review it roughly every four years. If nature conservation management becomes relevant, you as the landowner will always be informed and will have the opportunity to give your views on it.
Nature conservation agreement
A nature conservation agreement is a contract signed by the Swedish Forest Agency or the county administrative board and you as the landowner. It is a usufruct agreement under the Land Code. You can decide how long you want the agreement to run, but its purpose must be to conserve and develop the area's high nature and/or social values in the long term.
A property agreement is a type of nature conservation agreement that covers an entire property.
If the form of protection is a nature conservation agreement, the Swedish Forest Agency demarcates the area, and you as the landowner have the opportunity to take part in the demarcation. Unlike with habitat protection, in this case we make a simpler estimate of the volume of timber in the area and then calculate the net revenue, the income you would receive if the area were felled.
Compensation for a conservation agreement is roughly 60% of the net stand value of the area for a 50-year agreement. For shorter agreements the compensation is reduced proportionately.
Once we have agreed on the compensation and the form of the agreement, we sign it. We will pay you the compensation within one month of the agreement being signed. You can also choose to spread the payments over a maximum of five years.
The Swedish Forest Agency will mark out the area and review it roughly every four years. If nature conservation management becomes relevant, you as the landowner will always be informed and will have the opportunity to express your views on it.
Nature conservation agreements
Nature conservation agreement
A nature conservation agreement is a usufruct agreement that you as a landowner can enter into with the state through the Swedish Forest Agency or the county administrative boards. Municipalities can also sign nature conservation agreements.
The aim of a nature conservation agreement is to develop and conserve the high nature values that already exist. Nature conservation agreements are regarded as usufructs under the Land Code. The agreement regulates
- how you will conserve and develop the nature values
- what you as the landowner give up
- what compensation you will receive
- the term of the agreement.
You can sign a nature conservation agreement both for areas that need to develop freely and for areas that need nature conservation management in order to conserve and develop their nature values.
Nature conservation management
Different types of nature conservation agreement
The most common form of nature conservation agreement is intended for areas with high nature values.
It is also possible to sign:
- nature conservation agreements specially adapted for forests above the montane forest boundary.
- nature conservation agreements for areas of high recreational and outdoor value, known as social values.
- property agreements, an agreement for properties with a large proportion of forest land of high nature value.
- ecopark agreements. These agreements are signed by the Swedish Forest Agency with Sveaskog without state compensation. The agreements cover at least 1000 hectares and contain at least 50% nature conservation area.
The Swedish Forest Agency has also signed special nature conservation agreements, originally with Stora Enso and Bergvik Skog, which have now been transferred to Stora Enso AB, Kopparfors Skogar AB and Tham Invest AB. In total these agreements cover just over 10 000 hectares, and their aim is to conserve and create hectares of good habitat both for white-backed woodpeckers and for other red-listed species of broadleaved forest. No state compensation has been paid.
Areas suitable for nature conservation agreements
The following areas are suitable for nature conservation agreements:
- Areas of high nature value. These are selected in accordance with the strategy for area protection agreed by the Swedish Forest Agency with the county administrative boards and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
- Areas of high social value. The starting point for these areas is, among other things, that they should be older forests that are frequently visited and used in various ways for recreation.
- Property agreements. These can be signed for properties containing at least 15% NO/NS stands and at least one biologically valuable forest core. This means a woodland key habitat or an object of high nature value. To sign such an agreement, you must have a forest management plan in place setting out the priorities.
The habitat types given priority for conservation through nature conservation agreements differ between parts of the country – from broadleaved forests in the south to coniferous forests in the north.
Compensation varies
The compensation for a nature conservation agreement varies depending on how long the agreement runs. It is calculated, for example, from the timber value of the area, less felling costs and nature conservation considerations (known as the net revenue), and the duration of the agreement (1.2% of the net revenue per year). This means that for a 50-year agreement, for example, you will receive roughly 60% of the net value of the stand. The terms of the agreement can also affect the amount of compensation.
Compensation for nature conservation agreements concluded for forests above the montane forest boundary is higher. In these cases the compensation corresponds to 1.6% of the reduction in the market value of the area, which for a 50-year agreement is 80%.
If you as the landowner choose to sign a nature conservation agreement, you still own the land. Hunting rights are not affected.