The spruce bark beetle has destroyed a lot of forest in Småland in 2022. A new study conducted by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) on behalf of the Swedish Forest Agency shows that the dreaded spruce bark beetle has killed just over 5 million cubic metres of spruce in Götaland and Svealand in 2022.
More than 900,000 cubic metres of forest have been attacked by the spruce bark beetle in Kronoberg, Blekinge and Kalmar counties in 2022. But it is in Örebro and Sörmland counties that it is at its worst. Jönköping County has fared better, but even there large areas have been affected. However, the Swedish Forest Agency states that it is less than 100,000 cubic metres in Jönköping County.
- My heart goes out to the affected forest owners and it is now important not to give up but to continue to fight the bark beetles and save timber values from the forest, says Magnus Sääf, forest manager at Mellanskog, in a press release.
The damage caused by the spruce bark beetle this year can be compared to the 2018 forest fires, which destroyed two million cubic metres of forest. The effects of the spruce bark beetle are slower, but just as devastating for many forest owners. I feel that this year's survey reinforces the image of a natural disaster in slow motion," says Kerstin Ström, project manager for Stop the Borers at the Swedish Forest Agency in a press release.
