Development of the Swedish National Parks
1909 endorsed the Swedish parliament (Riksdag) the formation of ten national parks, not just the first in Sweden, but even in Europe. Nine of these parks arose in the following year - Abisko, Stora Sjofallet, Sarek, Pieljekaise, Sanfjallet, Hamra, Garphyttan, Angso and part of the island of Gotska Sandon. This new legislation was part of a comprehensive conservation law, with another law, the protection of natural areas on smaller extended. These measures are based on the establishment of the U.S. National Parks, the German efforts for the conservation of nature reserves and the commitment of the researcher AE Nordenskiold for the National Parks back in Scandinavia. 1904 the Swedish parliament supported the proposal Karl Starbacks to protect the natural treasures of Sweden, but the implementation until 1907 was still to wait, when the Ministry of Agriculture of an expert group to draw up the broad outlines of this new law activated. Although this committee’s suggestions of scientists and forestry officials from all over the country to benefit made, he by no means a systematic inventory of the country, or general criteria for the creation of parks. The Committee was limited to public property and chose a particularly following suggestions from the forest people based heterogeneous group of land. The final selection was the system of national parks still present form, a variety of areas with special consideration of the mountainous north. In Sweden has never been a national park administration. Instead, it was in the first decades of existence of the parks by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences with the management of parks operation. As the government as well as no funds available to, the Academy was forced to the parks mainly on a voluntary basis to manage. Understandably, the academy focused on scientific issues rather than on financial or fremden verkehrstechnische. The former scientific teaching accordingly, the Academy supported a passive strategy of the administration, namely ‘the new park just over nature “. Within a few decades began to the dangers of this approach were defined. Angso and Garphyttan, once cultivated landscapes and for their rich glory famous wild flowers, were soon weed trees and shrubs, which are actually from the park to be protected flora suffocated! Only after further decades and changes in the administrative responsibility could play a more active and more effective strategy. A modified language confirmed this new approach. When the Environment in the 60s their way into the Swedish policy made by the politicians began naturvard instead of naturskydd to speak on the nature of care instead of nature conservation. The Swedish park system has experienced in its first years, all ups and downs. Five new parks were added - Soderskog Dalby (1918), Vadvetjakka (1919), and Norra Kvill Bla Jungfrun (1926), and Tofsingdalen (1930). With the possible exception of Jungfrun Bla, a barren, with donations of Industriemagnaten Torsten Krueger acquired Baltic island had neither this nor the original nine parks have significant financial resources - Stora Sjofallet in the mountains of Lapland excluded. His big attraction, a majestic waterfall, drew the state hydroelectric company and its supporters. 1910, the Government approved the establishment of a power plant in Porjus to the development of mines and a railway in northern Sweden to promote the plans of engineers probably saw an expansion of the plant, which the National Park would affect significantly. Entbehrungsreichen In 1917, the first World War capitulated to the Academy of Sciences on the economic arguments for a huge expansion as potential economic gains spoke to the adverse geographical location to meet Sweden. After only minor considerations approved by the Swedish Riksdag the expansion. Faced with an imminent flooding of the area had the boundaries of the new parks are drawn to exclude the damaged areas! Other interventions were made to the so-called ‘Peace of Sarek “in 1961, as the proponents of hydropower in return for some final concessions the creation of the National Park of Padjelanta and limiting the further development of the rivers flowing freely accepted. This story showed that without the help of a powerful political consensus even within the public ownership of national parks suffer. Even 1962 was a study commission of the Government write that received the parks and nature reserves “because of their poor accessibility, their low economic value or for other reasons, unrelated to the environment have to do only remnant.”
Environmental and conservation issues were discussed during the 30s in the prevailing depression and during the Second World War pushed into the background. In the 50s, the Swedish government rejected the idea of a separate authority to deal with environmental issues. But the fast industrialization of Sweden and the energetically intensive development of natural 1963 initially led to the formation of the State Environmental Protection Agency and 1967 the State Office for Environmental Protection in their place. Valfrid Paulsson, 1967-1991 Director of the Office, remembers that as the pressure on the establishment of this office and dealing with immediate problems such as recycling, air and water pollution, and preserving rural areas in the first years of existence precedence over the Questions of national parks. The Office focused instead on the acquisition of nature reserves, a less restrictive method of preserving natural resources. (1997, Sweden 6423 sq km designated as national parks and 27,493 sq km as nature reserves, accounting for about 8% of the country’s territory.)
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