AM.Natural care agreements drawn up by the Swedish Forest Agency

The Nature Conservation Agreement is a civil-law agreement signed between the Swedish Forest Agency, the county administrative board or municipality and landowners interested in nature conservation. The aim of the agreement is to preserve and develop areas of high natural value. The duration of the contract can vary between 1 and 50 years and forms part of the long-term forest protection. The landowner receives some financial compensation for the restrictions on use resulting from the contract. The compensation is based on the forest economic value of the area (assessed root net) and the duration of the contract. Nature conservation agreements can be concluded both for areas that depend on management to conserve natural values and for areas where nature values are best benefited from free development. The areas usually have a size of between 3 and 20 hectares, but there are areas of more than 100 hectares.