Almost 70% of Sweden’s land area is covered by trees, and the forest industry has long been a corner stone of our economy. But what makes a forest? Compared to international standards and from a biological perspective, Sweden has a small proportion of protected forest - and our biodiversity is decreasing fast. Large parts of the area covered by trees in Sweden are in reality monocultures of invasive tree-species, and are perhaps to be called plantations rather than forests.
Most of the biodiversity rich forests we have left are mountainous and located in the northern parts of Sweden, in Sápmi. Indigenous Sámi peoples have lived in symbiosis with nature for thousands of years, and depend on prosperous ecosystems for the survival of their culture, that include reindeer-herding.
Can calling a plantation a forest create an illusion of sustainability? What makes a forest? And why does it matter?
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY IS AS GREAT A THREAT TO OUR CIVILISATION AS CLIMATE CHANGE.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON WAYS TO CULTIVATE A FOREST IS TO CLEARCUT IT. WHEN A FOREST IS CLEARCUT ALMOST ALL TREES ARE REMOVED AND NO DEAD WOOD IS LEFT. THIS ENDANGERS BIODIVERSITY AND INCREASES CO2 EMISSIONS FROM THE GROUND AND ROOTS.
MOST CLEARED FOREST AREAS IN SWEDEN ARE REPLANTED WITH MONOCULTURE PLANTATIONS TO BE HARVESTED AGAIN IN 60 TO 80 YEARS.
WHILE FORESTS DO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE, THE SWEDISH FOREST INDUSTRY IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR GIGANTIC CO2 EMISSIONS THROUGH CLEAR CUTS, TRANSPORTS, ROAD CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY MACHINES, THE BURNING OF BIOFUELS AND INDUSTRIES FOR PULP- AND PAPER MILLS.
IT TAKES BETWEEN 80 - 100 YEARS BEFORE THE CO2 EMITTED BY THE PROCESS OF CLEARCUTTING AND DISTRIBUTING THE WOOD IS ABSORBED BY THE NEW FOREST.
THE FOREST INDUSTRY EMITTS MORE CO2 THAN ALL OF SWEDENS OFFICIAL EMISSION SOURCES COMBINED.
80 % OF THE PRODUCTS CREATED FROM THE FOREST ARE BURNED.
BIODIVERSITY IS CONTINUING TO DECREASE AND WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A MASS EXTINCTION.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE MAKE UP LESS THAN 5% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION YET GUARD AND SUPPORT 80% OF GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY.
SÁMI PEOPLES IN SWEDEN ARE NO EXCEPTION:
”Jag vill ha ren luft och vatten, att människor ska bli hörda och att djur ska få finnas. Jag tycker att det är konstigt att det anses vara radikalt.”- Sofia Jannok
"95 procent av statliga Sveaskogs* skogsinnehav ligger på renbetesmarker, på samisk mark som vi brukat och ännu brukar. Vi har varit här sedan urminnes tider, ändå har vi knappt något att säga till om." - Emy Suorra
*SVEASKOG IS SWEDEN'S LARGEST FOREST OWNER.
MORE THAN 70% OF SWEDEN’S LICHEN-RICH FORESTS HAVE DISAPPEARED IN THE PAST 60 YEARS. REINDEERS NEED LICHEN TO SURVIVE.
ALTHOUGH SWEDEN IS FAILING TO REACH IT'S OWN POLITICAL GOALS AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS IN REGARDS TO BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, OLD FORESTS ARE STILL BEING CUT DOWN TO MAKE PLACE FOR PLANTATIONS OF SPRUCE AND PINE.
Most of the photographs above are taken in my local forest, located in Klarälvsdalen in Värmland. The place I think of when you mention home, the place I tell you about if you ask me about stillness, rest and nature. It looks like most forests in Sweden, yet it's not as natural and flourishing as I grew up to believe. My forest is a plantation of spruce that has been around just long enough for ecosystems to start recovering. Part of it was clearcut about 10 years ago, and has since grown naturally to become a birch forest instead. I want to assist the ecosystems to the best of my knowledge. I want to watch my forest grow back just like it has watched me grow up.
What makes a forest?
And what can we do to help it grow?
