Gotland National Park increases Nordic vulnerability

Protection of valuable nature is an important measure to preserve natural and cultural environments. Svemin, Swedish Association of Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers, is not opposed to a new national park on Gotland, but when it comes to the concrete proposal now presented by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency for the Bästeträsk area, the scope must be changed. The proposal needs to be revised to ensure the supply of so-called ultra-pure limestone is not jeopardized.

Within the proposed national park are some of Sweden's best limestone deposits. This is not limestone used by the cement industry - which is also on the island - but in the designated area there is limestone of a uniquely high quality used for liming lakes and purifying drinking water, as a soil amendment for agriculture, for steel production and for flue gas cleaning. This is why it was designated as a national interest for valuable substances and materials back in 2005. In the justification, SGU pointed out that "the Stucks limestone deposit is well known through geological and geophysical surveys and very important from a supply point of view."

However, as currently designed and with the proposed regulations, the national park would make all extraction of limestone impossible, which would impair Sweden's security of supply in the near future.

- "The limestone deposits in this area of northern Gotland are unique in Sweden and are of very high quality. There are no similar known deposits outside Gotland. I want to emphasize that these are really important deposits for society and that this type of limestone cannot be replaced by other materials," says Katarina Nilsson, PhD in bedrock geology and responsible for research and security of supply at Svemin.

The proposed national park thus poses a long-term threat to Sweden's security of supply and will lead to increased emissions of greenhouse gases, NOx and sulphur when domestic production has to be replaced by imports that require long-distance transportation. Increased import dependency at a time when geopolitical tensions are rising in our neighborhood is not desirable.

A national park in this area could also have a negative impact on Finland's security of supply.

-"From a NATO perspective, the resilience of both countries' industries and communities would decrease if the plans for the Bästeträsk National Park are realized as currently proposed," says Katarina Nilsson. "Finland, like mainland Sweden, has a bedrock with limited availability of sedimentary limestone that can be processed in today's energy-efficient lime kilns. Since the second half of the 20th century, northern Gotland has been of great importance for Finland's supply of limestone."

- "As I said, we are not against a national park, but since this one is proposed to go right up to the border of already existing national interests and thus in practice makes operations impossible, functioning buffer zones would need to be created so that the socially important deposits of ultra-pure lime can continue to secure Sweden's security of supply," says Tobias Kluge, legal advisor, Svemin.