Abstract

This article describes the transformation of old-growth forest to managed forests, in North (N) Sweden and boreal regions of North-West (BNW) Russia, from economic, social and ecological perspectives. Whereas in BNW Russia, the logging frontier could be kept moving into unharvested regions, N Sweden earlier had to develop solutions where large-scale logging had already taken place. In 1950–1990, Swedish strategies included rationing of old forest, effective regeneration and also precommercial and commercial thinning. Supporting means were legislation, government-funded subsidies and collaboration among enterprises, researchers and political leaders. BNW Russia is currently facing similar challenges and N Swedish experiences should be analysed and used where applicable. In N Sweden, a too low proportion of representative productive old forests remains, but in the last decades, N Swedish forests exempted from economic use have been significantly increased. Ongoing discussions of also defining areas with more intensive forest management would lead to a zoning, bearing some resemblance to the Russian system, in use since 1943. Russian experience should, therefore, be of interest to Swedish forest policy-makers. Both countries have problems with rural social issues. Both can benefit from collaboration on these aspects of sustainable forest management.

Keywords

Sustainable forest management, forest policy, forest age distribution, rural development, biodiversity conservation, forest management, history, logging frontier

Published in

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research
2013, Volume: 28, number: 8, pages: 797-810

SLU Authors

• Nordberg, Mats

  • School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Angelstam, Per

  • School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Elbakidze, Marine

  • School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Axelsson, Robert

  • School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
SDG8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
SDG12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns


UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2013.838993

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/51513