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On Monday, the Swedish Forestry Research presented its 1,200-page report to Environment Minister Isabella Lövin. The investigation was added as a result of the January agreement, with the main objective of strengthening the property rights of forest owners. It was one of the harshest demands of the Center Party to allow Stefan Löfven (S) to hold the post of Prime Minister.
The background is that conflicts between forestry and nature conservation have intensified in recent years, resulting in a series of stubborn lawsuits.
Read more: This is how Forest Research wants to resolve the conflict over the forest
Peter Helander is the Center Party’s forest policy spokesperson. It welcomes the fact that the research proposes that forest protection should be based primarily on voluntary initiatives by landowners. Other proposals, however, point in the opposite direction, according to him.
– The research makes a powerful interpretation of how much forest needs to be protected for Sweden to comply with our international agreements on biological diversity, says Peter Helander.
Peter Helander is the spokesperson for the Center on forestry issues.
Photo: Janerik Henriksson / TT
There is a negotiation in progress between the January parties on how the amount of protected forest will be calculated, which in turn determines how far Sweden can be considered to have gone to meet its commitments. The center advocates a more generous calculation model than the one currently used by Sweden. The Green Party has a different view on the issue.
– It was a pity that we did not have that base ready for Forestry Research, because then perhaps they had come to the conclusion that we have already achieved a lot. It’s okay for him to propose volunteering, but if he also says that much of the country needs to be protected, that deed alone will be a threat to property rights, says Peter Helander.
According to him, it remains to be seen which parts of the investigation the Center is prepared to continue.
– We do not intend to pass up anything that we believe will go against the January agreement. Homeowners should know that we will not accept anything that undermines property rights, says Peter Helander.
It welcomes the research proposal to remove the inventory of so-called key biotopes (lands that for various reasons may be worth protecting). Inventories, on the other hand, are very close to the heart of the Green Party.
John Widegren, The Moderados’ rural policy spokesman believes that what the January agreement would say would be a property rights investigation has become a nature conservation investigation. According to him, a great responsibility falls on the Center Party.
– Most of the research is about removing more production land. As a country, we cannot afford it. The Center Party has fought for them because they came to this investigation, but the directives must have been very bad. If you take the proposals seriously, you have instead weakened property rights, says John Widegren.
Environment Minister Isabella Lövin (MP) refuses to be interviewed about Forestry Research before analyzing it. However, leave a comment written to DN:
“Just today we received the full report from the Swedish Forestry Research and now it is starting to analyze it. It is an investigation that deals with many complex issues in which we must find a balanced way forward, ”writes Isabella Lövin.
Read more: The bird that has become a symbol of the battle for the forest
