 In all Nordic countries there are plans to further increase the forest area that is to be protected as nature reserves, national parks or under other forms of preservation. The common denominator for different protection methods is the limited opportunity for pursuing forestry.
The amount of protected forest varies from country to country. In Sweden and Finland a major part of protected forest areas are situated in the boreal forest regions and regions which are owned by the state or by companies. In Norway on the other hand the protected area as such is relatively smaller, but the area is geographically more widespread. To a large extent protected forest areas in Norway are privately owned and constitute family forestry businesses. In Denmark protected forests are more equally divided between State owned and privately owned areas.
Forest protection is mainly implemented by means of legislation. Full protection means that forestry is either totally prohibited or strictly limited. In that case landowners get compensation, usually paid either as a lump sum, or as land exchange. In case of less strict protection, usually limited in time, compensation is paid for a certain period, mostly 10 - 50 years.
Traditional forest protection is fraught with conflicts
Land reservation for protection purposes administered by public authorities often results in conflicts with the landowners concerned. This situation is clearly documented in the Norwegian project ”Virkemidler for forvaltning av biologisk mangfold i skog og våtmarker” (Measures for the administration of biodiversity in forests and wetlands). The project was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment. The most serious conflicts have arisen in Norway, because the number of private forest owners involved is the biggest. The main reason for the conflicts is that the parties' opinions concerning the need for protection strongly differ. Many forest owners have voluntarily and by means of wise and far-sighted forest management in the course of several generations enhanced natural values so that their forests need not bear the burden of formal protection.
More room for voluntary measures needed
In international discussions on the need for biodiversity and forest protection Nordic politicians usually strongly emphasize the need for consulting and engaging the local population in order to obtain good solutions. This attitude is in stark contrast with their way of handling forest protection issues in their own countries.
In order to reduce conflicts resulting from forest protection the Nordic forest owners' federations insist that forest owners must be given an opportunity of applying more voluntary protection than today. Forest owners’ own interests and their good will to save natural values must be taken seriously.
In case of total protection the forest owners concerned must be paid full compensation, either in terms of money or by means of land exchange. However, our opinion is that public authorities should reduce total protection and instead increase temporary protection. In the latter case compensation must cover future loss of value that may emerge during the protection period.
The bottom line is, that voluntary protection must be the mainstream if even more forests are to be protected.
Christer Segerstéen
President of the Swedish Federation of Forest Owners
Helge Evju
President of the Norwegian Forest Owners' Federation
Michael Hornborg
President of the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK)
Niels Reventlow
President of the Danish Forest Association
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