Sammanfattning

This study addresses a response to shifting baseline syndrome (SBS), a syndrome implying that land managers' acceptance of environmental change declines gradually due to lack of historical knowledge. Some actions to counteract SBS are haunted by methodological problems associated with measuring natural states and ignoring societal effects on ideas of naturalness. To balance methodological discussions of SBS, this study analyzes the social contexts of baseline demarcations historically. It compares baselines in two Swedish forest conservation debates-about the Fiby forest in the 1930s and the Ojnare forest in the 2010s-focusing on scalable and unscalable values. To operationalize shifting societal criteria for baseline demarcations, we introduce the "shifting society syndrome" concept. The study identifies several societal shifts and shows that Fiby's baseline was shaped by the scalable value of age and the nonscalable values of uniqueness and Swedishness, and Ojnare's by the scalable value of biodiversity and the nonscalable values of uniqueness and wildness. We argue that values, scalability, and historical change are crucial variables in the practice of demarcating baselines and that intellectual history is a useful tool for methodological self-reflection in SBS research.

Nyckelord

Fiby; forest conservation; forest history; naturalness; Ojnare; scalability; shifting baseline syndrome; values

Publicerad i

Conservation science and practice
2021, Volym: 3, nummer: 10, artikelnummer: e506
Utgivare: WILEY

SLU författare

• Jönsson, Jimmy

  • Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Lundmark, Tomas

  • Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Globala målen

Skydda, återställa och främja ett hållbart nyttjande av landbaserade ekosystem, hållbart bruka skogar, bekämpa ökenspridning, hejda och vrida tillbaka markförstöringen samt hejda förlusten av biologisk mångfald


UKÄ forskningsämne

Skogsvetenskap


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.506

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/113290