Friday, November 28, 2025
November 19th marks International GIS Day, a global celebration of the power of Geographic Information Systems technology. This year, the focus in the Scandinavian forestry industry shines brightly on Sweden, where the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen) is leveraging geospatial technology to advance environmental sustainability and responsible forest management.
The Agency is hosting a digital meeting on GIS Day to spotlight its innovative mapping service: Skogsvattenkartan, or the Forest Water Map.
Launched just six months ago, the Forest Water Map contains completely new, high-resolution data designed to simplify a critical task for forestry professionals: assessing and mitigating the risks of negative impacts on water resources during operations such as timber harvesting and logging.
Anders Hejnebo, a forest consultant at the Swedish Forest Agency and a key developer of the map, explained the map’s straightforward objective: “The purpose of the map is simply to improve consideration of forest water.”
For Sweden’s vast and economically vital forestry sector, effective water management is paramount. Forest operations, if not carefully planned, can lead to sediment runoff, nutrient leakage, and alteration of natural water flow, impacting downstream ecosystems, fish populations, and water quality in lakes and rivers. The new GIS tool directly addresses these environmental risks.
The Skogsvattenkartan provides forest owners, loggers, and environmental consultants with data layers that fundamentally improve operational planning. It allows users to visualise where surface water can realistically be expected to be found within a planned operational area.
Crucially, the map goes beyond simple water body location. It also gives users a clear understanding of:
By integrating this vital geographical intelligence, the map facilitates decision-making that adheres to the country’s stringent environmental codes and promotes the long-term ecological health of the forest landscape. This proactive use of GIS technology moves the industry closer to the national environmental quality goal of Sustainable Forests—ensuring the protection of biological production and biodiversity in a balanced way.
The importance of GIS Day lies in demonstrating real-world applications of location intelligence that make a tangible difference in society. For the forestry industry, where decisions are inherently geographic, GIS is a vital enabler of sustainable practices.
The Swedish Forest Agency’s digital meeting on November 19th will run from 9:00–9:45 AM, offering a detailed review of how the map’s unique material was developed and, most importantly, how it should be used in day-to-day work. The session is highly relevant to:
While the primary audience is professional users, the Swedish Forest Agency extends a welcome to all interested parties, recognizing the growing public interest in sustainable forest management and the use of modern technology to protect natural resources. The development and open sharing of such advanced geospatial data underscore Sweden’s commitment to leading the way in environmentally conscious and data-driven forestry.
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Tags: environmental consideration, forest operations, forest water map (Skogsvattenkartan), Geographic Information Systems, GIS Day, sustainable logging, Swedish forestry, water conservation
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