Monthly statistics from the Swedish Forest Agency shows an overall decrease in notified area for final felling in September compared to the same month 2018 – in region South of Northern Sweden 41%. The reason behind the decrease are the vast areas notified after the extensive forest fires last year. In region Central Sweden forest owners continues the high level of forest operations with an increase of 6% of notified areas compared to September last year.
A reason for the continuing high activity in region Central Sweden is the problem with forest damage by bark beetle.
The large decrease in area notified for final felling in the region South of Northern Sweden originates from counties Jämtland and Gävleborg, where vast areas were notified 2018 due to extensive forest fires that year. The level for September this year is basically the same as the average level for the period of 2007 to 2019.
Despite the decrease in September the annual rate continues to increase. So far 202,510 hectares have been notified, which is 13% more compared to the first nine months last year.