Participants in the research trip in Fågelsjö discovered last week that Stora Enso had felled a forest with high conservation values and protected species east of Hälltjärnen in Härjedalen municipality. On the clearcut there were stumps from 180-year-old conifers, while the oldest felled trees were about 330 years old. On the clearcut, the vulnerable and protected little orchid grew kneeroot. At the edge of the clearcut was the protected wood fungus scented tick – a species that is also red-listed on a global level. Stora Enso has now been reported to the police.
Philip Weiss, member of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation in Dalarna, says:
“This kind of thing just can’t happen. This is not only a violation of the FSC forestry certification, but the logging itself is actually also illegal. Considering the species that we found in the forest that are still standing next door, this is a forest that is not allowed to be felled based on either Swedish or EU legislation. It is an obvious environmental crime and we will see what the police say about this.
Stora Enso had planned to harvest about 16 hectares of forest east of Hälltjärnen in March this year, but due to spring thaw, they stopped felling after about 10 hectares of the forest had been felled. There are more premises with knee roots in the forest that still stands. Knee root is sensitive to changes in humidity and does not survive the blow-through and drying out that results from a felling. Scientific studies therefore recommend at least 50 meters wide protection zones around the knee root’s growing sites.
– The forest notified for felling is also a habitat for the three-toed woodpecker, we have not only found a lot of traces of it, but we even saw it. The near-threatened goshawk and grouse also have the forest as their habitat,” says Philipp Weiss, member of the Dalarna Society for Nature Conservation.
Stora Enso has announced that it is pausing its continued harvesting plans to conduct a new conservation value inventory.
Does this mean that if you had not visited the forest on the Research Trip, this would never have been discovered?
“This kind of thing happens in secret everywhere. This is not the only felling notification that Stora Enso has that does not comply with the legislation. I looked at a few more nearby where it’s the same thing – protected species are found in more felling notified areas so this seems to be something systematic that they engage in. Of course, this must be passed on to the authorities,” says Philipp Weiss, member of the Dalarna Society for Nature Conservation.
What do the authorities do?
“Most often they say that they do not have the time or resources even though the Swedish Forest Agency is the responsible authority. They are actually the ones who have to report this to the police, but it is very rare that they do. They prioritize other things, they say. It is usually us volunteers who have to make the inventories for the Swedish Forest Agency – there are many system errors here,” says Philipp Weiss, member of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation in Dalarna.
What did you feel when you stood on the clearing?
“It’s a great sadness to see how you’ve gone through these parts that were still intact and then you come out on the clearcut and understand what natural values have been lost. It breathes greed and total disrespect. It is an insult to future generations and to all species that exist in the forest. It’s completely disrespectful and it makes me very angry. We’ll see where this lands,” concludes Philipp Weiss, member of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation in Dalarna.
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Facts about the Research Trip
The research trip in the Wilderness of Nature Conservation is Sweden’s largest non-profit forest inventory effort. This year, the Research Trip has been held in Fågelsjö in Ljusdal municipality and in Moskosel in Arvidsjaur municipality. In total, more than 80 people of different ages and with different backgrounds and knowledge have gathered to map conservation species and draw attention to unprotected and valuable forest environments in Norrland.
Contact
Philipp Weiss, member of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation Dalarna, tel. 072-923 91 53, weiss.philipp(@)gmail.com