From the Swedish monarch’s lockdown residence Stenhammar Palace just outside Stockholm, King Carl XVI Gustaf attended a digital event entitled The Forest Day on Wednesday. The King of Sweden has a deep commitment to issues concerning nature, the environment and forests. His Majesty participated in the conference and opened the digital event with a speech.
In his speech, the King said: “I am sitting here on Stenhammar and looking out over the Sörmland forest, and thinking about how important the forest is to our country. The fact is that it is the income from those who have built up Sweden’s prosperity. And still does, with an annual export worth 150 billion Swedish crowns. At the same time, growing forests play a key role in slowing down and counteracting global climate change. Here in Sweden alone, it binds over 140 million tonnes of carbon every year.”
The conference was arranged for the seventh year in a row, this time completely digitally. The purpose of the conference is to strengthen the knowledge about Sweden’s forest and focus on the work that is done with the forests. Following the speech of the King, politician, academics and experts spoke and discussed, among other things, the role of the forest in a sustainable society.
In advance of the conference, King Carl Gustaf had a private visit to the forest near Stenhammar Palace – a residence recently attacked by an infestation of bark beetles. Here, and in many other similar areas in Sweden, work is now underway to get eliminate the bark beetles and rebuild the forest – job that will take a long time.
The forests in Sweden consists of about 75% cultural forest and just under 25% natural forest. In the south, deciduous forest is relatively more common, while central and northern Sweden are completely dominated by coniferous forest consisting of spruce and pine stands.
In Sweden, planned forestry has been conducted since the turn of the century in 1900, with the aim of supplying the forest industry with high-quality raw materials, while at the same time not jeopardising the long-term regrowth.
