News · Environment · Published 11 July 2026
Sweden proposes landscape-scale measures to restore threatened habitats
The package would support butterflies, old trees, forest insects, wetlands and farmland as part of the EU nature-restoration plan.
DailySweden Editorial Desk
Updated 00:54 · 3 min read
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Sweden's Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a series of landscape-scale measures to strengthen habitats for butterflies, wood-living insects and other vulnerable species.
The authority says many species do not have habitats that are large enough or of sufficient quality to survive over the long term. The problem affects many groups and is especially visible in landscapes that have been heavily changed by human land use.
Isolated protected areas are not enough, according to the agency. Species need connected, functioning landscapes so that populations can spread rather than becoming trapped and more vulnerable.
The package would support butterflies, old trees, forest insects, wetlands and farmland as part of the EU nature-restoration plan.
The proposals include targeted work for butterflies in priority landscapes and improved care for protected or ecologically valuable trees, with a focus on insects that depend on dead or ageing wood.
Environment essentials
The agency also proposes cooperation projects for wood-living beetles in forest environments, wider protective buffer zones around water and wetlands in forest ecosystems, and the strategic use of unharvested cereal and rapeseed fields.
The package is contained in an impact assessment submitted to the government on 29 June. It completes parts of Sweden's proposed national nature-restoration plan that were missing when several authorities delivered an earlier version in February.
What happens now
The February proposal did not include the sections dealing with species-habitat targets under Articles 4 and 5 of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. The new assessment is intended to fill that gap.
The proposed habitat measures assume that the actions in the earlier restoration plan will also be carried out. The Environmental Protection Agency warns that more work will be needed to meet the habitat goals if the previous measures are not implemented.
The EU regulation contains binding, time-limited targets intended to reverse the deterioration of biodiversity and habitats. Member states must explain through national plans how they will reach those targets.
The measures announced by the agency are proposals and supporting analysis, not a final government decision. They will inform the Swedish government's completed restoration plan.
The government must submit that final plan to the European Commission by 1 September 2026. Decisions on member states' plans are expected by September 2027.
What happens next therefore depends on the government's final selection and design of measures, followed by the EU-level review of Sweden's plan.
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