UNHIDE Agroforestry - A Knowledge Exchange Latvia- Sweden 2023-25 - Report - Page 11
Hazels planted on less fertile parts of the land.
seedlings distributed to farmers. However, due
to limited experience, many seedlings died, and
local interest remained modest. Tor was therefore
tasked with strengthening farmers’ understanding
of the benefits of tree planting.
Under Tor’s leadership, large central nurseries
were gradually replaced by farmer-led training
programmes, teaching local communities how
to establish “home nurseries” and grow suitable
seedlings themselves. Farmers were guided in
using trees strategically: one for shade, another
for fertilisation, a third for pest control, a fourth
for firewood, and a fifth as fencing. Materials unsuitable for construction could still be composted
and returned to the soil.
Tor proved to be a successful manager. During
his tenure, We-Agroforestry became an independent foundation employing 150 field workers. The
main nursery in Kitale, Kenya expanded into the
Olof Palme Agroforestry Centre, and operations
spread around Lake Victoria into Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Collaboration with SIDA followed, but also sparked a prolonged controversy, as
We-Agroforestry fought to maintain its autonomy.
Other conflicts arose as well:
UNDER STATE PRESSURE,
CYPRESS AND EUCALYPTUS
MONOCULTURES WERE INTRODUCED INTO SYSTEMS
Nitrogen-fixing goat’s-rue (Galega officinalis) sown beneath
hazel trees. Cultivated as forage, a bee plant, and green
manure to add organic matter to the soil.
INTENDED FOR AGROFORESTRY, WHILE TOR ADVOCATED FOR SILVOPASTORAL
SYSTEMS WITH DIVERSE
LOCAL SPECIES.
As a former forest inspector, Tor drew parallels to
Swedish forestry: “Spruce suits the forest industry.
Increased yield is the only thing that matters, and
that view dominates both research and education.”
Charlottenberg Farm includes approximately 140
hectares of forest extending up the mountain. Sixty
hectares have been converted from spruce monoculture into mixed and deciduous forest, now featuring species such as sweet chestnut, birch, wild
cherry, poplar, and ash. “Diversity provides risk
management and creates resilient forest systems,”
Tor emphasises.
Early in his career at Södra, Tor was also a pioneer
in encouraging landowners not to clear-cut pastures
for spruce plantations, but instead to support the
development of thriving mixed forests managed
through selective cutting.
In the farm shop, hazelnuts, walnuts, strawberries, rhubarb, wild garlic, blackberries, cherry
dogwoods, pears, peaches, apricots, chokeberries, quinces, gooseberries, and various currants are sold seasonally.
