Environmental Effects of Public Forestry Incentives in Finland, Norway and Sweden

Legislation and economic measures constitute a more investment-friendly and less harvesting-friendly forest policy in Norway than in Finland. The Swedish situation is intermediate. Consequently, Norway has had the largest increase in standing volume and has the largest percentage mature forest. The greatest number of measures to enhance biodiversity and amenity directly have been undertaken in Sweden, with detailed regulations and direct subsidies. It is, however, too early to measure any effects on the indicators of environmental effects used in this survey.