The area of applications for permits for final felling in in Sweden's montane forests was more than five times larger than December last year. The total area of applications and notifications in December for the whole country amounted to 22,475 hectares, which is 33% more than in December 2019, as Swedish Forest Agency reported.
Notifications of final felling in so-called normal forest (forest that is not montane or broad-leaved forest) amounted to 20,137 hectares, which is an increase of 27% compared with December 2019.
The application for permits for final felling in montane forest amounted to 1,740 hectares, which is just over five times more than December 2019.
Notified area in December 2020 increased by 83% in Southern Norrland and by 44% in Götaland, compared with December 2019. Also in Svealand, the notified area increased, but by a more moderate 16%, while it decreased by 7% in Northern Norrland.
In 2020, 267,360 hectares of forest were preliminarily notified for final felling, which is 2% less than in 2019. In montane forests, however, the area on which forest owners applied for final felling increased to 14,321 hectares, which is close to five times as much as 2019.
At county level, notified and applied area increased in 2020 in 11 of 21 counties. Värmland County accounts for the largest increase (11%), while Stockholm County accounts for the largest decrease (22%).
