Forest history combined with emerging technologies creates knowledge for sustainable forestry

Swedish forests have evolved in interaction between natural processes and people since the end of the Ice Age. Forest history therefore explains why today’s forests look and function as they do and plays a crucial role in shaping the development of sustainable forestry.

Humans have long utilized forest resources for food and shelter. They have also produced forest-based goods during centuries which has been crucial for the Swedish economy. Human activity has left cultural legacy and influenced the composition of tree species, growth and biodiversity. Without historical knowledge, it is impossible to understand why today’s forests look and function as they do.

History about the forest can therefore provide essential historical context for today’s sustainable forestry. Economic and ecological sustainability should be grounded in a thorough understanding of the factors that have shaped the forests over time. Social sustainability, in turn, requires that the cultural heritage of forest landscapes be preserved.

For more than a century, harvesting and regeneration methods have been the subject of intense debate. Using documents and maps from forestry company archives, Professor Lars Östlund will investigate how and why the use of different methods has changed over time and how these changes have affected the forest in various ways. He will also study the forest landscape as a historical archive to identify types of cultural remains that are rarely recognized, develop methods for documenting them, and examine how they can be protected in connection with forestry.

The project’s results aim to contribute to the development of sustainable forestry. Key research questions will be explored using methods from multiple disciplines, and the findings will be analyzed in an interdisciplinary approach. The foundation of the project is the collection of data from historical records, which will be combined with field investigations, cutting-edge technologies such as high-resolution LIDAR, laser scanning, and 3D photography, as well as interviews with individuals who have worked in the forest in various ways.

Stories and experiences from both men and women who has been active in forestry, reindeer husbandry, and summer pasture farming will be collected. These stories are valuable in themselves but also essential for interpreting cultural remains and providing additional perspectives on data from historical records. 

Finally, Swedish forest history will be placed in an international perspective to highlight how the development of Swedish forestry resembled or differs from trends in other countries.