The ancient monument area is legally part of the ancient monument itself and may not be damaged or altered without the county administrative board's permission. The permission specifies the environmental consideration that shall be shown to the ancient monument-protected environment.
"The development of consideration has stagnated and the proportion of damages is not decreasing. More efforts, knowledge, and information are required at all levels of forestry to preserve the traces of human history", says Michael Lehorst, cultural environment specialist at the Forestry Agency, in a press release.
The Forestry Agency has inventoried 688 ancient monument areas over the past five years and found damage from forestry in 38 percent of them.
The most common reason for not following the county administrative board's permission is that land preparation has been carried out in the area. During land preparation, the soil is processed to create a good growth site for seedlings and seeds. Wheel tracks and logging residues that end up on top of the monument are also common.
