Sweden - Overview

Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

Sweden is a Northern European country, characterised partly by boreal taiga. Sweden has a varied landscape with many different ecotypes. Forests and forest plantations cover almost 70% of the land, and agriculture is practiced mainly in the southern parts. Most of the regions have a long history of intensive forestry, agriculture or hydroelectric developments... More »

Number and Extent of Protected Areas

In Sweden, some 4,000 sites are protected under the EU habitats directive (Natura 2000 network). Four large undeveloped rivers are protected by the environmental code. Sweden has 28 national parks and 2900 nature reserves, which account for about 10 % of the total land area. Today 1,1% of the productive forest land outside the mountainous area is protected... More »

Percentage of Forest Cover

Forests in Sweden cover 27,528,000 ha and other wooded areas 3,257,000 ha, i.e., 67.0 % and 7.9 % of the land area, respectively.

National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan

Major features of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

The biodiversity strategy and action plans have been, in several but not all parts, superseded by the system of sixteen environmental quality objectives, adopted by Government and Parliament. These objectives express the environmental quality that should be reached within a generation (app. the year 2020). There is not “a Swedish NBSAP” contained in one document... More »

Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

The adoption of the 2010 target has sparked an intensified effort to further specify how to integrate biodiversity into land use planning and sectoral activities. Among the activities that have been initiated since the adoption of the target, the following should be highlighted. (1) A national guidance on the development of regional landscape strategies is being produced... More »

Initiatives in Protected Areas

Since the early 1990s, site protection has been greatly extended, especially for protection of valuable forest areas. Examples of threatened forest and mires that were recently protected include Fulufjället National Park, Söderåsen National Park, Granlandet nature reserve and Tervavuoma nature reserve. In 2002 the Government decided on a new nature conservation policy to increase protection of aquatic environments... More »

Initiatives in Access and Benefit Sharing

Sweden has facilitated access to its genetic resources according to a decision made by the government in 2003. By recommendation of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the government decided that access to all plant genetic material of Swedish origin in Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) is free, and that the administration of them should be shared by all the Nordic countries... More »

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

The Swedish Biodiversity Centre conducted wide consultations with representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities in order to assess the Swedish implementation of this article of the Convention. The results suggest that there is a need for a new national network to deal with the documentation, preservation and use of traditional knowledge... More »

National Contacts

Full details of national contacts »

Convention on Biological Diversity

Ms. Ann-Christin Weibull	CBD Primary NFP
Dr. Borje Alriksson	ICNP ABS NFP (ONLY)
Assoc. Prof. Per Alström	GTI NFP
Ms. Karin Skantze	CHM NFP, SBSTTA NFP
Mr. Olle Höjer	Protected Areas NFP

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Melanie Josefsson	BCH NFP
Ms. Monica Törnlund	Cartagena Protocol Primary NFP