What does the term primary forest mean? Can such forest be felled and how much of this type of forest is there in Sweden?
Primary forest is a term that has been used for several years by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the same defintion is now used in EU-legislation:
Naturally regenerating forests of native tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activity and ecological processes are not significantly disturbed.
In addition to the definition, the FAO sets out a number of more detailed criteria for such forests, for example, that such areas must be sufficiently large for natural ecological processes to be maintained.
In Swedish, the concept Primary forest is translated to “urskog”.
Read more on the FAO website here.
How much primary forest is there in Sweden?
The FAO publishes a report on the state of the world’s forests – the Global Forest Resources Assessment – every five years. The report is based on data submitted by respective countries and includes data on primary forests. In 2020, Sweden reported that there was just over two million hectares of primary forest in Sweden, approximately eight per cent of its total forest area. This figure is based on statistics from the Swedish National Forest Inventory.
However, there is doubt over whether this number is accurate because according to the definition, areas must be of a certain size to be classed as primary forests. Swedish National Forest Inventory figures are based on sample inventories consisting of small sample areas, and does not take into account the definition’s area size requirement. This means that there is a risk that Sweden’s reported area of primary forest is an overestimate.
Is it permitted to fell primary forests?
The majority of primary forest is already protected in Sweden. This means that forestry is not permitted in these areas. Areas that are unprotected are found in unique and relatively small areas where there is no intention to harvest, even if no formal ban is in place. There is therefore no genuine threat to primary forest in Sweden.
Furthermore, the EU Deforestation Regulation restricts the transformation of primary forest into planted forest or plantations, and, the Renewable Energy Directive restricts the extraction of primary wood fuels.
