Editorial review 2026-09-12 · Jurisdiction: Sweden — Species Protection Ordinance as published by Sveriges riksdag
A species list is not a hall clearance — Artskyddsförordningen names prohibitions
Is a Swedish hall already cleared with nature because a screening slide is green, or because a dated paper under Artskyddsförordning (2007:845) has actually tested a named species and a named measure? The ordinance, used here as published by Sveriges riksdag and amended through SFS 2026:1504, is issued under Environmental Code chapter 8. Section 2 still names the Birds Directive 2009/147/EC and the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC. Section 4, in the text that remains in force until 1 November 2026 and in the text that then replaces it, forbids intentionally capturing or killing wild birds, intentionally destroying or damaging their nests or eggs, collecting eggs, and intentionally disturbing birds — especially in the breeding and rearing period — if the disturbance is material to the directive’s purpose. Section 4 a forbids, for wild animals marked N or n in annex 1, intentional capture or killing, intentional disturbance, collecting eggs, and damaging or destroying breeding sites or resting places. That last row applies to all life stages. Section 7 forbids intentionally picking, collecting, cutting, uprooting or destroying plants marked N in annex 1. Section 14 lets the county administrative board grant a dispensation from sections 4–5 and 7 only if there is no other suitable solution, the dispensation does not impair maintaining a favourable conservation status, and one of the listed reasons applies — including overriding reasons of public interest. Section 14 a, added by förordning (2026:1049), says a renewable-energy case under section 14 is presumed to need that public-interest reason unless something else appears in the file. SFS 2026:1504, issued 14 July 2026, rewrites annex 2 protection categories and sections 5 a, 6, 8 and 15 from 1 November 2026. Naturvårdsverket’s 2009 handbook, part 1, remains a dated fridlysning commentary. The joint forestry guidelines of 4 March 2026, version 2.2, are a forestry case-handling paper. Naturvårdsverket’s bird-and-grid guidance is a concession-application paper. None of those objects is a hall clearance. Microsoft’s 16 November 2021 note names Gävle, Sandviken and Staffanstorp. EcoDataCenter names Falun. Google names Horndal. atNorth’s 23 February 2026 SWE04 note names Sollefteå. evroc’s 3 February 2025 note names Arlandastad. None of those pages is a section 4 finding, a section 14 dispensation or a reserved megawatt. The Natura 2000 page and the 12:6 consultation page already own neighbouring papers. This page only asks which published species-protection object the hall file is sitting on. This is orientation, not counsel.

General orientation. Assess the specific project separately. Applies to: Readers placing a no-protected-species, bird-cleared or artskydd-done sentence on a Swedish hall file.
Reading order
Seat the ordinance prohibition before any coloured species pin. Write the paragraph, the annex mark and the dated paper on one line before you say the hall is cleared. Section 4 is a bird row. Section 4 a is an annex-1 animal row that also protects breeding sites and resting places. Section 7 is a plant row. Those are different objects.
Then keep the 1 November 2026 clock on its own row. SFS 2026:1504, issued 14 July 2026, rewrites annex 2 categories and sections 5 a, 6, 8 and 15 from that date. A slide written against the outgoing annex-2 text is not a finding under the incoming text. Do not invent a hall species class from the amendment.
Then keep dispensation, renewable-energy clocks and neighbouring Environmental Code papers on their own rows. Section 14 is a county-board dispensation with three cumulative tests. Section 14 a is a renewable-energy presumption. The 15 a–15 d clocks, also from förordning (2026:1049), are renewable-energy handling clocks. They are not a hall bygglov week. Natura 2000 and 12:6 already sit on other pages.
Then keep named project rows as geography. Microsoft, Falun, Horndal, SWE04 Sollefteå and evroc Arlandastad stay operator papers. This register does not publish a section 4 finding or a section 14 decision for those cadastral units.
- Section 4, 4 a and 7 are different prohibition rows.
- SFS 2026:1504 is a 1 November 2026 clock, not a hall class.
- A section 14 dispensation is three tests, not a welcome.
- The forestry guidelines are a forestry method paper.
What a prohibition, a dispensation and a bird-and-grid paper actually measure
A section 4 or 4 a prohibition measures a named act against a named species family. Damaging a breeding site or a resting place is its own row under section 4 a. A marketing sentence that “no red-list species were seen on a walk” is not that showing.
A section 14 dispensation measures three statutory tests at the county board. No other suitable solution, no impairment of favourable conservation status, and one listed reason. Section 14 a only changes the public-interest presumption for a renewable-energy file. A datorhall is not automatically that file.
Naturvårdsverket’s bird-and-grid guidance measures recommendations for a line-concession application: location, inventories, cumulative effects and technical protection. The agency writes that a guidance paper is not legally binding and that an assessment must always be made in the individual case. It is not a hall bird certificate.
The 4 March 2026 forestry guidelines measure how Skogsstyrelsen and Naturvårdsverket handle forestry cases, including 12:6 consultation and national annex-2 species. They name forestry. They do not classify a named hall.
What named primary sources show
Artskyddsförordning (2007:845), read on 12 September 2026 as amended through SFS 2026:1504, remains the statutory paper. SFS 2026:1504 remains the dated 14 July 2026 amendment with a 1 November 2026 clock. The 2009 handbook remains the dated fridlysning commentary.
The bird-and-grid guidance remains a concession-application paper. The 4 March 2026 forestry guidelines remain a forestry method paper. Named operator rows remain geography.
No cited source here publishes a project-specific section 4 finding, a section 14 dispensation or a reserved hall megawatt created by a green species slide.
A matrix instead of one bird-cleared slogan
Draw one page with object rows and evidence columns. Section 4, section 4 a, section 7, a section 14 dispensation, the 1 November 2026 annex-2 rewrite and a named campus town are different columns. Empty cells stay empty.
Do not invent a hall species count or a national clearance week from the handbook. Those remain method facts from dated ordinance and agency pages.
| Object | What a source can show | What this page will not invent |
|---|---|---|
| Section 4 | Ordinance: intentional bird acts and material disturbance | A reserved hall or a cleared pad |
| Section 4 a | Annex 1 N/n animals, including breeding sites and resting places | A walkover as a statutory finding |
| Section 14 dispensation | Three tests at the county board | A municipal welcome as a dispensation |
| SFS 2026:1504 | Issued 14 July 2026; annex 2 rewrite from 1 November 2026 | A hall species class |
| Named campus town | Microsoft 16 Nov 2021; Falun; Horndal; SWE04 23 Feb 2026; Arlandastad 3 Feb 2025 | A section 4 finding or reserved MW |
Common misreads
The first misread is to treat a green screening slide as a section 4 close-out. The ordinance asks for a named act and a named species family, not for a colour. The second is to treat the 2009 handbook or the 2026 forestry guidelines as a hall exemption. Both are method papers. The third is to treat section 14 a as if every campus were a renewable-energy file.
The fourth is to treat a named campus town as proof that a hall already holds a dispensation. The operator page named a town. It did not publish the species paper. The fifth is to treat the 1 November 2026 clock as already applied to a 2025 inventory. The sixth is to invent a species count or a reserved megawatt. The seventh is to collapse this page into the Natura 2000 page or the 12:6 page.
What to ask next
Ask which dated paper anyone is quoting — a section 4 row, a section 4 a breeding-site row, a section 7 plant row, a section 14 dispensation or only a walkover note — and which cadastral unit it names. Ask whether the 1 November 2026 annex-2 rewrite has been read against the file.
Then open the Natura 2000 page, the 12:6 page, the biotope-protection page and the environmental-permits hub. If the operator will not name the species object and the date, record the gap. Do not fill it from a bird-cleared slide. This page is not legal advice.
- Is the paper a section 4, 4 a or 7 prohibition — or only a walkover?
- Which cadastral unit and which annex mark does it name?
- If a dispensation is claimed, which of the three section 14 tests is written?
- Has the 1 November 2026 annex-2 rewrite been treated as already applied?
- Has a campus town been treated as a species file?
What this does and does not prove
This page proves that Sveriges riksdag already publishes Artskyddsförordning (2007:845) as named prohibitions with a three-test county-board dispensation, and that SFS 2026:1504 dated 14 July 2026 rewrites annex 2 from 1 November 2026 — and that those facts are not a reserved hall megawatt.
It does not prove that a named Swedish hall sits on a named species finding. It does not invent a nest count for Horndal or Arlandastad. It does not treat a campus press note as a section 14 decision.
Empty cells stay empty. Until a later primary source names the species, the paragraph and the dated paper, the artskydd clock stays a method, not a census. DataCenterSweden records the method.
Sources
- Species Protection Ordinance (2007:845) — Sveriges riksdag, 2007-11-08. Checked 2026-09-12.
- Ordinance amending the Species Protection Ordinance (SFS 2026:1504) — Svensk författningssamling, 2026-07-14. Checked 2026-09-12.
- Swedish EPA — Handbook for the Species Protection Ordinance, part 1 (2009) — Naturvårdsverket, 2009-01-01. Checked 2026-09-12.
- Swedish EPA and Swedish Forest Agency — Joint guidelines for species-protection cases in forestry, version 2.2 (4 March 2026) — Naturvårdsverket / Skogsstyrelsen, 2026-03-04. Checked 2026-09-12.
- Swedish EPA — Guidance on the electricity grid’s effect on birds — Naturvårdsverket (publication date not stated). Checked 2026-09-12.
- Environmental Code (1998:808) — Sveriges riksdag (publication date not stated). Checked 2026-09-12.
- Microsoft opens its sustainable datacenter region in Sweden — Microsoft, 2021-11-16. Checked 2026-09-10.
- EcoDataCenter 1, Falun — EcoDataCenter, 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-10.
- Horndal, Sweden – Google Data Center Location — Google Data Centers, 2026-09-01. Checked 2026-09-11.
- New 300MW mega site in Sollefteå, Sweden — atNorth, 2026-02-23. Checked 2026-09-11.
- evroc finalizes land purchase in Arlandastad, Stockholm — evroc, 2025-02-03. Checked 2026-09-10.