In July, the area notified for final felling in Sweden was the highest in 9 years, according to the Swedish Forest Agency. One reason for the increase could be higher activity in forest operations due to infestation of bark beetle which leads forest owners to notify for final felling to clear damaged forests despite it being the main summer holiday month.
The total area of notified final felling in the whole country amounted to 21 644 hectares in July, which is the highest note for July since 2010 and the next highest since 2006.
The area of notified final felling increased in the whole country except in the region South of Sweden which showed a marginal decrease (1%).
In the region North of Sweden the area notified for final felling increased by 9% to 5710 hectares. In the region South of Northern Sweden, the notified area increased by 7% to 5967 hectares and in the region Central Sweden it increased by 6% to 5206 hectares. That is the largest area notified for final felling in the region of Northern Sweden in 8 years and in 9 years for the regions South of Northern Sweden and Central Sweden.
The total area of notified final felling in the whole country amounted to 23 191 hectares in June, which is a 19% decrease compared to June last year and the lowest level in 8 years.
The largest decreases were in the regions South of Sweden (32%) and South of Northern Sweden (30%). In the region Northern Sweden, the area of notified final felling decreased by 18% and in the region Central Sweden by 11%. The reasons for the decrease could be both an adjustment to large areas notified for final felling earlier this year and to large volumes of timber stocked in the forest, at road side and at forest industries.
