Swedish forest owners make louder and louder protests against establishing nature conservation areas in Swedish forests. A list containing over 1,000 signatures from forest owners has been presented to Mr Andreas Carlgren, Swedish Minister for the Environment. The list proves their discontent with the methods used by the Swedish Government for earmarking forest areas for nature preservation.
The forest owners were represented by a delegation of about ten persons, which presented a petition to the Ministry for the Environment. Mr Lars-Erik Klockar, one of the forest owners, took the initiative and the signatures were made on his webbsite. Forest owners from all over Sweden have signed the petition which also contains signatures from Germany and the United States.
In a press relaese before the visit to the Ministery Mr Klockar emphasized that individual persons will be hit by the establishment of nature preservation areas in Sweden.
The question of economic compensation for preserving key biotopes must be resolved now. If forest owners loose their forests, there will be a negative impact on both agriculture and the opportunities to make a living in rural areas. Extracting more bio-energy from forests also means that more productive forest land is needed.