UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 47
doplatanus), oak, beech, apple, rowan (Sorbus
aucuparia) and a bush layer seeded with barberry
(Berberis communis) and European buckthorn
(Rhamnus cathartica).
Several scattered, old “landmarks” of oak, wild
apple, maple, linden, ash and pine, with an undergrowth that includes bird cherry (Prunus padus),
hazel, gray willow (Salix cinerea) and bracken
(Frangula alnus).
A fenced polycyclic trial (with inspiration from this
Italian system) with a mix of fast and slow growing
trees (aspen, alder, poplar, willow, oak, beech
and other hardwood species) supporting each
other, and intended for continuous timber harvest.
A plant nursery established in raised sand beds,
inspired by Swedish gardener Peter Korn at Klinta
trädgård, to enhance the plant robustness and to
minimise the need for extensive maintenance.
Other experiments are underway such as a newly
established “tiny-forest” trial and a breeding project for sweet chestnuts and walnuts.
The work is done to some extent with small forestry machinery and by hired labor.
The last three years were spent creating microhabitats in the forest, such as dead standing trunks,
stone piles and ‘Mulmholks’ - a nest box filled
with mulch (remains of rotted wood, leaves and
animal droppings) resembling the conditions that
Beekeeper Toms.
can be found in hollow tree trunks, intended for
insects such as saproxylic beetles, that depend on
dead and rotting wood for food and habitat. From
2022, the forest is a demonstration site for privately owned, sustainable forest management in
collaboration with WWF Latvia and LatViaNature.
FILM: I’M A TREE,
WHAT DO I NEED? (link)
“This is an interesting example of
how former arable land can be transformed into a multi functional sys-
tem.Instead of removing the native,
pioneer, nitrogen-昀椀xing grey alders,
they have been left to enrich the sys-
tem. Vadakste can be an inspiration for
southern Swedish forest owners, with
suffering monoculture spruce plan-
tations on former arable land, looking
for a way to secure the forest as an
intergenerational investment, for food
security, timber and biodiversity” –
Maja Lindström Kling.
Melampyrum nemorosum.
