The notified area of final felling in Sweden increased by 13% in April compared with the corresponding month in 2018. One reason is attacks of bark beetle. It is the highest monthly recorded data in 4 years for the whole country in April and the second highest in last 12 years, according to the Swedish Forest Agency's statistics.
The total area of notified final felling in the whole country amounted to 17,364 hectares.
The notified area of final felling increased in all regions except for the region North of Sweden where it decreased by 40% to 2 733 hectares. In South of Northern Sweden there was an increase in the notified area of final felling by 41% to 4 356 hectares. In the region Central Sweden there was an increase of 31% to 4 794 hectares and in the region South of Sweden the increase was 35% and amounted to 5 482 hectares, which is the highest monthly recorded data for April in 12 years.
At the county level, the notified harvest area increased in 18 of 21 counties. The largest increase was in Blekinge County with almost a tripling of the notified area. In Kalmar County the notified area was doubled. It is the highest note for the month of April since 2007 for these two counties. Notifications also increased in Västernorrland and Värmland Counties with 60 and 55%.
The increase in higher notified area of final felling is plausibly due to the extensive attacks of bark beetle in regions South and Central Sweden.
So far this year, 79 534 hectares have been reported for harvesting, which is 22% more than in the first four months of last year.
