Småhöjderna, Krokom Photo: Olli Manninen

All around the mighty Hotagen nature reserve in Northern Jämtland, unprotected old-growth forests are directly bordering the reserve. These old-growth forests are still being fragmented. The timber market situation in Sweden is, at the moment, putting a large pressure on these forests.

There are hundreds of hectares of forests planned to be logged in the surroundings of Hotagen. A few of the plans have been withdrawn, at least for the time being, because of protests from NGOs. But many of the plans are still valid.

Blankvattnet, Krokom Photo: Sini Saarela

In particular, the forest company SCA has planned and lately done many old-growth forest loggings around Hotagen. SCA is notorious for its poor environmental standards and its hostile attitude towards nature conservation. Other forest owners include forest company Korsnäs, National Property Board (Fastighetsverket) and some smaler forest owners. The surroundings of Hotagen and the bordering Lierne National Park in Norway make by far the biggest intact forest landscape in the whole Central and Southern Scandinavia.

A logging in Stor-Foskvattnet in Krokom. Photo: Olli Manninen

The protection and logging situation is very similar on the Norwegian side of the border. There are many unprotected forests close to Lierne National Park. The National Park mainly consists of very low productive scrubland and bare mountain land. In Norway, the forests are mainly privately owned. The Norwegian State owns about 7 percent of the productive forest land.

Map of forests in and around the Hotagen-Lierne Intact Forest Landscape. Download the NordicForests.org Map for Google Earth here .

Greenpeace Sweden and SSNC visited the planned logging sites during 2008 and revealed logging plans in very high conservation value forest areas. Some of them were virgin ancient forests.

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The pictures in the photo galleries can be downloaded at:

• Rusvattenån, Strömsund, SCA
• Ytter-Renaflyn, Strömsund, SCA
• Linjeviken, Strömsund, SCA
• Hällingsåfallet, Strömsund, SCA
• Småhöjderna, Krokom
• Finnvattshöjderna, Strömsund, SCA
• Stor-Foskvattnet, Krokom
• Blankvattnet, Krokom

Hotagen-Lierne is included in the World Intact Forest Landscapes –report. Also this magnificent area is scandalously losing its natural values for good as the fragmentation continues. see more at: IntactForests.org

Ytter-Renaflyn, Strömsund, SCA Photo: Olli Manninen

Old-growth forest environment in Gjeddvatnet. Photo: Sini Saarela

In the northeastern corner of Norway near the Arctic Ocean and Murmansk lies one of the largest old-growth forest areas in Norway. It’s on the border to the vast wilderness areas of Vätsäri on the Finnish side. These sparse, rocky pine forests have to a large extent survived untouched because of their remoteness and low productivity.

There are more than 4000 hectares of unprotected old-growth forests and thousands of hectares untouched subalpine birch scrublands in Pasvik. The forests are situated between and around Øvre Pasvik National park and Store Sametti Nature reserve. These two protected areas could be easily joined together and to the Vätsäri wilderness area by protecting the remaining old-growth forest areas. Vätsäri and Pasvik forests make are one of the largest untouched forest areas in the whole Fennoscandia. Almost all of the forests on the Finnish side are protected. If the forests on Norwegian side would be fragmented by loggings this possibility would be gone. The Norwegian state was logging in Pasvik until it was found out that the loggings were not economically sustainable(!). Now the whole Pasvik area is being governed by the co-operation body of local communities called Finnmark Eiendom. It is uncertain what will happen in the with the area, no decisions of protection or logging activities have been made.

More information about the Øvre Pasvik National park and the Pasvik-Inari area can be found at pasvik-inari.net

This map shows unprotected High Conservation Value Forest areas in Pasvik, Sør-Varanger. If you click on the red pins you get a link to an album with pictures from the area. Download the whole NordicForests.org Map for Google Earth here .

Vätsäri-Pasvik is also included in the report “Worlds Intact Forest Landscapes” by Greenpeace. It shows all the intact forest areas in the world that are more than 50 000 hectares of size. Actually, the contour in northern Pasvik is not quite correct; forests around Store Sametti should be included also by the definitions of the report! Read more at: intactforests.org.

Føllvasshögda. Photo: Olli Manninen

More photos of unprotected Old-Growth Forest in Pasvik

See all forests and more at picasaweb