According to the proposal for a national plan, a series of measures will be taken to restore Swedish nature and the ecosystem.
In total, they cover 201 points. Among these is making it profitable to move animals to natural pastures to contribute to biodiversity.
In the oceans, the aim is to reduce eutrophication, and in lakes and watercourses it includes removing obstacles to migration so that fish and other species can live and thrive in their original environments.
"Costs for all proposed measures are estimated at SEK 20 billion annually until 2032. This is slightly more than a doubling of current funds for measures already underway, which are SEK 9 billion per year," the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency writes on its website.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) believes that the plan contains several important measures, but criticizes what it sees as a low level of ambition on the part of the government.
"It is a major shortcoming that, due to the government's directive, the ecological need is not taken into account and the goals for species' habitats are not achieved. This is crucial for Sweden to meet the legal requirements," says Emelie Nilsson, an expert on nature conservation policy at WWF, in a statement.
Similar sentiments are heard from Karin Lexén, Secretary General of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
"Unfortunately, the government has so controlled the authority's work that this plan has far too low an ambition level. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency itself states that the proposal is not sufficient to meet the requirements," she writes.
The EU adopted a Nature Restoration Act in 2024 with the aim of ensuring "a continued and sustainable restoration of resilient and biodiverse nature". The aim is to cover at least 20 percent of the EU's land and water surface by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
Each member state must achieve a range of improvements in everything from the number of butterflies and birds to the proportion of forests with trees of different ages.
How the legislation is achieved is up to each member state.
Source: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
