Environmental monitoring program area: Forests
The program area Forests monitor the state of the forest environments in Sweden, except for the mountain birch forests. Ground chemistry and ground vegetation is monitored at many test sites.
The Forest program delivers data about stressors on the Swedish forest for international conventions on air (LRTAP) and to the EU. It also delivers data on the climate monitoring. This includes delivering data on the carbon deposit present in Swedish forests. Results from the program area are also important in the evaluation of the national environmental quality objective Natural Acidification Only.
Coordination
Significant environmental monitoring of forests is done by the Swedish Forest Agency and by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) through the Swedish National Forest Inventory.
Reference group
Reference groups are used to cooperate and exchange information with other stakeholders in the monitoring area, often relevant governmental agencies, municipalities and County Administrative Boards.
The two subprograms National survey of forests, soil and vegetation and Integrated monitoring have reference groups.
Revisions
The latest program revision was done in 1999, as a part of a total revision for the environmental monitoring program. An international evaluation of the subprograms National survey and Integrated monitoring was done in 2002. The subprograms Monitoring of small mammals in forests and Toxic pollutants in moose were evaluated in connection to a revision of toxic substance monitoring in 2006.