Programme areas

Environmental monitoring is organised in ten programme areas. Some programme areas are concerned with specific environmental media, such as freshwater or forests, while others are of a more general nature, such as landscapes or toxic substances coordination.

All the programme areas share a common conceptual structure, although it may vary in its application.

Each programme area consists of a number of sub-programmes, the purpose being to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of the Swedish environment. The criteria for subdivision vary with each programme area.

Air

Air programme area is governed to a large extent by the need for progress monitoring of Sweden’s national environmental objectives and the EU air quality directives, which are implemented as Swedish environmental quality standards.

Mountain areas

Programme area Mountain areas monitors the alpine and sub-alpine terrestrial ecosystems in the Scandinavian mountain range.

Forests

The Forests programme area monitors the condition of forests other than mountain birch forests. It includes surveys of soil chemistry and vegetation in numerous sample areas.

Agricultural land

The environmental monitoring of farmland primarily aims to produce data for assessing the impact of crop farming, grazing, and haymaking.

Landscapes

The Landscapes programme area monitors the land environment at a higher level of generality than the programme areas Forests, Agriculture, Wetlands, and Mountain areas. Most of our bird monitoring programmes also come under programme area Landscapes.

Wetlands

The Wetlands Programme Area monitors the state and trends of wetlands with respect to the impact of human activities on hydrology and biodiversity.

Freshwater

The purpose of freshwater monitoring is to provide an overall picture of status, with special focus on reference sites. The programme also generates data for international reporting and for tracking progress towards the national environmental objectives.

Seas and coastal areas

The monitoring programme for seas and coastal areas provides input for the description of large-scale human impacts on biodiversity. Data are also used for international reporting and for tracking progress towards the national environmental objectives.

Health-related environmental monitoring

The Health-Related Environmental Monitoring Programme Area is concerned with the long-term monitoring of factors in the environment that can impact on human health.

Toxic substances coordination

The Toxic Substances Coordination Programme Area groups together a number of activities of basic importance to present and future environmental monitoring, such as screening of chemicals and an environmental specimen bank.

Updated: 7 February 2012
Content editor: Manuela Notter
Web editor: Editorial office