National Land Cover Database (NMD)

Last reviewed: ‎05‎ ‎December‎ ‎2023

Something that many actors within the environmental field need is an up-to-date, complete map of Sweden’s land cover and land use.

Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency has, in conjunction with several other Swedish agencies and organizations, taken the initiative to produce such a map that covers the entire country.

Mapping the entire country

Land cover and land use maps are an important source of information for activities involving biological diversity, sustainable development, ecosystem services, civil planning and climate and risk management. That is why the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, together with several other agencies, has produced a land cover\ land use map over the entire country. There are also a number of complementary products and related documentation. This collaboration has successfully resulted in a useful product that myriad users working on environmental issues in Sweden can benefit.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and other stakeholders want a long-term and well-managed updating and distribution of land cover data. Functioning and effective methods for continuous updating are important and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency continues to cooperate with other authorities to achieve this. 

In 2023, work began on the updating of the National Land Cover Database. Delivery of updated data will begin in 2024.

Download the National Land Cover Database

The National Land Cover Database is comprised of a base map and complementary ‘added-value’ layers. Links to download the data are provided below. Accompanying each data set is a description of the product (in swedish), as well as a quality assessment. For additional information and downloading:

The National Land Cover Database is comprised of a base map and complementary ‘added-value’ layers. The work was completed in May 2019 and an updated version is available from July 2020. Links to download the data are provided below. Accompanying each data set is a description of the product (in swedish), as well as a quality assessment. For additional information and downloading:

National Land Cover Database, original version

Additional layer: Land Use

Additional layer: Object Height and Extent

Additional layer: Productivity

Additional layer: Forests in Mountainous Regions

Soil moisture index map (an intermediary result from the database production)

Quality Control/ Quality Assurance report

Webb Mapping Service (WMS)

Downloading service - per administrative county

Product description (pdf 458 kB)

Technical documentation (pdf 5 MB)

If you have and questions or suggestions, including examples of how the products are being used, please contact:

data@naturvardsverket.se

Project Organization

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is the project manager and chair of the stakeholder steering group.

The goal is to further develop NMD and establish a long-term management. The participating organisations contribute financial resources to the project and staff the project with experts.

  • Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Chair)
  • Statistics Sweden
  • Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
  • Swedish Forest Agency
  • Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
  • Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
  • Swedish Transport Administration
  • Swedish Board of Agriculture
  • National Board of Housing, Building and Planning
  • Swedish National Space Agency

There is also a reference group for the National Land Cover Database with representatives from other interest groups.. These stake-holders help set user’s needs and quality assurance, as well as providing feedback regarding the relevance of the products and helping to spread information about the National Land Cover Database within their organizations.

Birgitta Olsson, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

Ola Inghe, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

Camilla Jönsson, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency