UNHIDE Agroforestry - A Knowledge Exchange Latvia- Sweden 2023-25 - Report - Page 15
Linden is suitable for building sauna
interiors, the Latvians noted.
Looking ahead, Anders plans to grow black walnut (Juglans nigra) for timber and to employ more
animals for specific ecosystem services — such as
the Swedish forest pig Linderödsgris, a semi-wild
breed that feeds on nuts and once roamed southern Sweden’s beech and oak forests until the late
19th century.
“Imagine a meadow or forest edge where rose
hips, Korean silverberry, honeyberries, walnuts,
fruit trees, and chestnuts grow alongside native
species — plants that benefit animals and are
dispersed by them. In such a system, combined
with planned grazing, grass also has a function,
whereas in forest gardens it is usually something
to suppress. Grazing animals eating fallen fruit
reduce parasite loads by interrupting life cycles.
This should also apply to the hazelnut weevil (Curculio nucum),” Anders suggests. “Nitrogen-fixing
trees also keep their leaves later into autumn, making them valuable in grazing systems.”
•
Note from Anders: Avoid letting cows rest and
graze in the same place, as concentrated dung
can cause root rot.
•
Forest grazing declined from the 17th century
onwards, when timber and charcoal became economically lucrative. Grazing was framed as harmful to regeneration, while the underlying reason
was the rise of state and private forest ownership
with no interest in livestock.
•
Fäbobruk was recently inscribed on UNESCO’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage List — a traditional
pastoral system that once formed the backbone of
Sweden’s rural economy.
In Sweden, forestry is the primary driver of biodiversity loss. More than 75% of forests are plantations dominated by spruce and pine, and around
79% are clear-cut each year and replanted as new
monocultures, often with limited consideration for
climate resilience, biodiversity, or long-term ecological integrity. Clear-cutting also threatens Sweden’s
remaining old-growth forests. Sweden and Finland
together hold the largest share of Europe’s remaining natural continuity forests, yet a 2025 WWF
report concludes that both countries are failing
to meet their commitments under the EU Green
Deal and Biodiversity Strategy to protect them.
Old-growth boreal forests store more carbon than
tropical rainforests and are critical to planetary
stability, making their protection and restoration
dependent on a fundamental restructuring of Swedish forestry.
•
Research in rural sociology, agroecology, and
conservation biology increasingly highlights silvopastoralism, selective thinning, and animal traction
as key tools for creating multifunctional, biodiverse
forests and strengthening food, water, and fibre
sovereignty.
