UNHIDE Agroforestry - A Knowledge Exchange Latvia- Sweden 2023-25 - Report - Page 10
Väversunda berry orchard with Food forest, Sweden
Forested site with sweet chestnut trees
interplanted with native tree species.
grafted walnuts from Denmark. 4-5 hectares were
planted in groups with hazelnut, sweet chestnut
and cherry trees, and groups with walnut and
hazel. Hazelnut plants were bought from Stångby
nursery. Over the years, he was warned that these
“exotic nut trees” would possibly pose a threat to
native trees. “But trees don’t choose their country,
they choose their climate”, Tor adds thoughtfully.
“AGROFORESTRY IS AN
EFFECTIVE AND LONGTERM INVESTMENT IN
FOOD SECURITY, BUT
THE INTEREST AMONG
POLITICIANS AND
AUTHORITIES FOR
USING IT IN SWEDEN
AS WELL WAS LUKEWARM.” - Tor Nyberg
Walnut tree (Juglans regia).
The forest garden is fenced, but still, occasionally,
wildlife finds its way in. Measures undertaken to
reduce the impact of deer and voles are plantings
of the pollinator flower Crown imperial (Fritillaria
imperialis), with a smell that keeps them away, and
keeping the grass short to help hawks spot voles.
Occasionally wild boars have entered, but without
harming the trees. One year a badger took all the
seeded nuts, Tor recalls.
WE-AGROFORESTRY
Vi-skogen’s work began in a commitment to prevent deforestation and desertification in East
Africa. The idea was to help farmers around Lake
Victoria increase productivity by combining their
crops with trees, to prevent erosion of the fertile
soil. This would also help save forests from being
cut down for fuel for cooking, as the tree systems
on the farms would supply firewood. These trees,
planted in crop systems close to the household
were mentioned as “female trees”, one of them
being sesbania; a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing and
water-retaining pea plant, providing fuel for cooking. An example of “male trees” were eucalyptus,
requested by the market and sold for timber, a
practice that often results in desertification.
When Tor Nyberg took office as We-agroforestry
manager the curb poverty donation campaign
“Plant a forest in Kenya instead of giving flowers
as a gift” had been a huge success in Sweden.
Nurseries had been started in Kenya and tree
Groups with walnut trees protected from frost by hazels.
