Last year, Sweden gained 100 new nature reserve areas, according to statistics from SCB. The largest new nature reserve is Norra Borgafjällen in Dorotea, Lapland.
In 2023, there was a net increase of around 45,600 hectares of protected nature in Sweden, which is an increase of one percent compared to 2022.
– Of Sweden’s total area, 15 percent is protected, says Karin Hedeklint, land use expert at SCB, in a press release.
The largest new nature reserve is Norra Borgafjällen in Dorotea in Västerbotten, which covers almost 20,000 hectares. The nature reserve consists mainly of mountain heath and bare mountains. Furthermore, the second largest new area is the Ronneby mussel beds in Blekinge, which is about 14,000 hectares of open sea. Actually, the area became a reserve already in 2021, but due to register technical reasons it was not included in the statistics until 2023.
In Sweden, protected nature consists of national parks, nature reserves, nature conservation areas, biotope protection areas, the Royal National City Park and Natura 2000 areas.