The supplement of 40 million is certainly welcome but far from enough, according to Claes Svedlindh who is head of the nature department at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
This is because there is a great interest from forest owners to set aside forest for nature reserves in exchange for compensation – in Jämtland County alone, some 50 landowners have registered an interest with the County Administrative Board.
Reduction of 500 million
In the forest bill, which was hammered through last year, it was also established that – in addition to the basic voluntariness of forest protection – money would be set aside so that landowners can be compensated more quickly for forest protection than before.
Despite that, the funds have decreased instead of increasing. The grants for protecting valuable nature to the Environmental Protection Agency amount to 1.1 billion this year – to be compared with 1.6 billion in 2022.
Biodiversity commitments
Protected forests need to be saved in order for Sweden to reach the environmental goal Living forests.
– But it is also about international commitments on biological diversity that we must achieve, says Claes Svedlindh.
The government parties emphasize that the state’s funds must be prioritized for the most urgent – for example defence, care and school. What is your comment on that?
– Yes, we are in a situation where we are many different parts of the state that need more resources, but the grant was also reduced between 2022 and 2023 by 500 million, says Claes Svedlindh.
The distribution of the 40 million in the spring amendment budget has not yet been decided.
