The forest is our largest land-based ecosystem. Natural forests store large amounts of carbon, are habitats for a myriad of species, and are the basis for a wide range of other ecological functions we all depend on! A large part of the Swedish forest has been negatively affected by unsustainable forestry. Forestry and the forest industry currently account for the country’s single largest impact on nature, the environment and the climate. At the same time, Sweden has a particularly great responsibility because the country carries a large part of the EU’s natural heritage in the form of natural forests that have not previously been clear-felled, so-called continuity forests.
“To reverse the trend and protect these invaluable ecosystems, we must protect forests, restore forests, and transform forestry. For this to be possible, the forests that potentially have the greatest conservation values and carbon stores need to be mapped,” says Elin Götmark, spokesperson for the Protect the Forest Association
Protect the Forest has developed Skogsmonitor.se – a map service that shows valuable forest environments and potentially valuable forests. However, there is still a lack of detailed data on certain areas and a mapping of the carbon in our forests.
“We have therefore taken the initiative for two projects to cover these knowledge gaps and to create new map layers that can be used in environmental work and forest management,” says Jon Andersson, project manager at Skogsmonitor.se, the association Protect the Forest
The Scandinavian mountain forest belt, or Boreala Amazonas as we have chosen to call it, is with its enormous size and its high natural values completely unique in the EU. Despite this, a uniform map layer or a detailed description of the area, its history, land use and the threats posed by, for example, forestry, mining and infrastructure have not yet been presented. The project will come with web maps and a report describing the irreplaceable and unique values of the area.
In the project Carbon in our forests , we will produce and present data on the forest’s carbon storage potential, a potential that can be used as one of several tools to achieve climate goals, in parallel with reduced emissions and a system shift in all sectors.
“We are both extremely proud and enormously grateful that the Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation has decided to support our project,” says Viktor Säfve, project manager at Skogsmonitor.se, the association Protect the Forest
Through these projects, the Protect the Forest association hopes to contribute to the knowledge and protection of the internationally unique Boreal Amazon and highlight the enormous carbon storage potential that our Swedish forests have.
The project is supported with: SEK 2,440,000.
Project manager:
Jon Andersson
Viktor Säfve
Contact information: skogsmonitor@skyddaskogen.se
Read more about the project here
www.skogsmonitor.se
The Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation provides fixed-term support for projects that promote positive social development and seek long-term solutions to local and global challenges. Today, the Foundation is one of about sixty non-profit organizations that take part in the Postcode Lottery’s billion-dollar surplus. Since 2007, more than SEK 2.2 billion from the Postcode Lottery has been channelled through the Foundation to over 1,100 projects in Sweden and internationally.