New rulings, from the land and environmental courts and the European Court of Justice, have created what is called a \"new order in the forest\".<\/p>\n
The interpretation of the current legal situation means, according to the Swedish Forest Industries (Skogsstyrelsen), that forest owners are obliged to take into account all wild bird species - at the individual level, since all wild birds are protected under the Species Protection Ordinance. This in turn may mean that it will be impossible to conduct forestry for large parts of the year:<\/p>\n
''The consequences will be that it is in principle not possible to conduct any forestry during large parts of the year, as it risks disturbing birds and their habitats. In that case, it will be almost impossible to run sawmills, pulp and paper mills that are dependent on a steady flow of fresh raw materials throughout the year,'' says Magnus Berg, business policy manager at Skogsindustrierna.<\/p>\n
In its analysis, the Swedish Forest Agency refers to the development of practice in the European Court of Justice concerning Sweden's application of the Species Protection Ordinance, which is the Swedish implementation of the EU's Birds and Habitats Directive.\u00a0Because the Species Protection Ordinance has transposed the EU directives into Swedish law, the European Court of Justice's assessments have a direct influence on forestry.<\/p>\n
''An important reason why today's decision from the Swedish Forest Agency has any basis is the Swedish over-implementation of the directives. Now all birds and their biotopes are protected at the individual level - regardless of whether they belong to endangered species or not.\u00a0The implementation has extreme consequences and threatens an entire industry that is important for the whole country and for the green transition.\u00a0It is obvious that an amendment to the Species Protection Ordinance is needed,'' says Magnus Berg.<\/p>\n
A consequence of the Swedish Forest Agency's position is, according to the Forest Industries, that very high knowledge requirements are placed on individual forest owners.\u00a0Prior to felling, the forest owner is now considered obliged to acquire knowledge about the existence of protected and protected species within the felling area.\u00a0The Swedish Forest Agency announces that it will request more supplementary data and investigations from forest owners as to whether species may be negatively affected by felling.<\/p>\n
''As a result, a significant administrative and financial burden is placed on forest owners. It is easy to imagine how the knowledge requirements will develop into an administrative and legal nightmare.\u00a0All in all, the \"new order\" that the Swedish Forest Agency is talking about will create unnecessary problems for small and large forest owners and seriously disrupt the forest industry's raw material supply,'' says Magnus Berg.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New rulings, from the land and environmental courts and the European Court of Justice, have created what is called a “new order in the forest”. The interpretation of the current legal situation means, according to the Swedish Forest Industries (Skogsstyrelsen), … Continue reading