5§3 : a governmental cleanup of the forest lands

I Sverige har skogsindustrins behov av råvara länge dominerat både nyttjandet av skogen och skogspolitikens inriktning. Som mest politisk tyngd fick de industriella intressena efter 1979 års skogspolitiska beslut, då staten kraftigt detaljreglerade och subventionerade skogsbruket. Den nya skogsvårdslag som beslutades 1979 krävde bland annat att ny skog skulle anläggas om skogen var så gles eller till så stor del bestod av för marken olämpligt trädslag att tillväxten var avsevärt lägre än vad som vore möjligt. Kravet låg under lagens femte paragraf, tredje stycket, och de skogar den gällde kom därför att kallas 5§3-skogar. Utöver lagkravet beslutade riksdagen 1981 att under en 15-årsperiod satsa 3 miljarder kronor på ekonomiska bidrag för föryngring efter avverkning av 5§3-skog. Målet var att ca 1,7 miljoner hektar sådan skog skulle avverkas. Det så kallade 5§3-programmet mötte stark kritik för dess effekter på natur- och kulturmiljövärden, men inom naturvården låg fokus vid den tiden på lövskogar och urskogar. Det bidrog till att de norrländska 5§3-skogarna, vilka ofta var barrdominerade och påverkade av äldre tiders skogsbruk, fick liten uppmärksamhet. Det övergripande syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur den statliga satsningen på avveckling av 5§3-skogar genomfördes, vilken omfattning den fick, varför den genomfördes och vilka skogar som berördes. Fokus har legat på Norrbottens, Västerbottens och Jämtlands län där avvecklingen av 5§3-skogar hade sin tyngdpunkt. Resultaten visar att virkesförsörjning och sysselsättning var centrala men tveksamma argument för satsningen på 5§3-programmet. Både utbudet av virke och sysselsättningen i skogsbruket minskade under programmets genomförande. Tvärtemot den allmänna uppfattningen under 1980-talet verkar det också ha funnits höga naturvärden i en betydande andel av 5§3-arealen i Jämtlands, Västerbottens och Norrbottens län. 5§3-programmet får därför antas ha bidragit till utarmningen av det norrländska skogslandskapet. Programmet kan beskrivas som en kostsam, bortkastad och miljöskadlig storstädning av skogslandskapet. För att förstå hur 5§3-satsningen kunde genomföras i så pass modern tid räcker det kanske inte att ta del av de officiella argumenten och motiven, vilka i efterhand snarast framstår som svepskäl. Förmodligen ville man i första hand kunna räkna upp den framtida virkesproduktionen för att legitimera höga avverkningsnivåer i nuet. Det är också tänkbart att det fanns mer känslomässiga, eller ideologiska, skäl för skogsmännens vilja att ”förbättra” skogslandskapet. Idén om att förbättra skogarna genom skogsbruk hade länge utgjort en stark berättelse som skapat enighet inom skogsnäringen, samt mellan näring och stat. Idag har det etablerats en stark berättelse om skogen och bioekonomin, med liknande tendenser. Stat och näring står enade och den som inte stödjer berättelsen ses som ett hinder i vägen. Samtidigt är skogen viktig för hela samhället och ur många olika aspekter. Skogspolitiken behöver därför utformas med en bred och balanserad representation av olika kompetenser och intressenter, i processer där inte en av alla berättelser om skogen tillåts dominera.For a long time, the forest politics and the use of forests in Sweden has been formed by the preferences and needs of the forest industry. In 1979 a new forest policy was introduced by which the state more than ever prioritized the industrial need of feedstock. High production and high harvest were to be achieved by a combination of detailed regulation and generous subsidies. The new Forestry Act of 1979 demanded that low-yield forests were removed and replanted with more productive forest. This regulation was placed under the fifth paragraph, third section, in the Forestry Act. The forests it applied to were therefore called 5§3-forests. In 1981 the so called 5§3-programme was initiated by the state. During a period of 15 years about 3 billion SEK were to be invested in subsidies for regeneration after felling of 5§3-forests. The goal was to replace around 1,7 million hectares of these low-yield forests. The 5§3-programme was heavily criticized for threatening forests with high conservation values. However, it was mainly the overgrown pasturelands and other broadleaved forests in the southern part of the country that concerned the nature conservation movement. The low-yield forests in the north were often coniferous and affected by selective cuttings. Such forests were generally not considered valuable at that time. The purpose of this study was to investigate how and why the 5§3-programme was initiated and what type of forests it concerned in the north of Sweden. Particularly the nature values of 5§3-forests in the provinces of Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten were investigated. The results show that wood supply and employment were the main drivers for initiating the 5§3-programme, but also that they were doubtful arguments. In fact, both wood supply and employment within forestry decreased during the programme period. This study also shows that a large proportion of 5§3-forests in Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten had features suggesting high nature conservation values. Considering that the most of the 5§3-programme budget was spent in the north, it may have been most harmful to the environment there. To fully understand how it was possible for the 5§3-programme to be initiated in such recent time, it might not be enough to study the official arguments by the state. It is likely that the programme first of all served the purpose of legitimizing high levels of harvest. It is also possible that there were more sentimental, or ideological Abstract grounds, for the foresters will to “improve” the forest landscape. The narrative of improving forests by forestry had for long been strong among foresters, and unified the forest sector and the state. Today a strong narrative has formed around the role of forests in the bioeceonomy. However, the forest resource is important for the whole society and in many different aspects. The forest policy should be formed with a broad and balanced representation of competences and stakeholders. It is important not to let one narrative dominate such policy processes

The official state survey of forests and conservation values in the 1980´s : were nature values considered when private forestst were surveyed?

At the beginning of the 1970´s the Swedish forestry had developed into a highly mechanized and intensive operation. It received strong criticism for its methods and negative effects on the environment. However, when a new forest law was decided in 1979 environmental issues were not its main concern, but the production and supply of raw material for the forest industry. Extensive clearcutting on state and company owned land had concentrated the volumes of older forests to small landowners. The industry experienced difficulties in acquiring enough raw material and small landowners that were passive in their forest management were considered part of the problem. A new forest law with high demands on production and harvest came into force in 1980 and was meant to increase the activity on private forest land. The Swedish Forest Agency was to enforce the new law. To do so effectively the agency needed better knowledge of the private owned forests. A nationwide inventory of private forest land was initiated by the parliament and carried out by the Swedish Forest Agency. It started in 1980 and was named Översiktlig skogsinventering, ÖSI. The lack of concern for nature values during the inventory was criticized by both researchers and non-governmental organizations. The debate focused on abandoned pasture land with old, broadleaved trees in the south of Sweden. These could be identified as low-yield forests during ÖSI and the law demanded such forests would be felled and regenerated. A large amount of state subsidies were also invested to stimulate restauration of low-yield forests. The aim of this study was to examine the regard paid to nature values during ÖSI in Arvidsjaur municipality. The study included an analysis of geographic information from ÖSI, the woodland key habitat inventory and protected forests. The results indicate that high conservation value forests seldom were identified as such during ÖSI. In Arvidsjaur municipality it was mainly in sparse, low-yield forests that nature values were neglected. Furthermore, not many forests classified during ÖSI as forests that should not be felled have later been protected or identified as key habitats. The main goal of the forest politics and the purpose of the inventory to increase activity among private forest owners might have caused nature values to be overseen. Lack of instructions on how to identify nature values during the inventory could also be a reason. It is also possible that more regard was paid to esthetical values than nature values. The fact that the environmental debate at that time focused on broadleaved forests and pristine forests might have contributed to the neglection of nature values in sparse, low-yield forests in Arvidsjaur. These were often dominated by coniferous trees and affected by selective cuttings. It might be that the investment in regeneration of low-yield forests led to a greater loss of nature values in northern Sweden than yet has been observed

Tradition as asset or burden for transitions from forests as cropping systems to multifunctional forest landscapes: Sweden as a case study

Expectations of what forests and woodlands should provide vary among locations, stakeholder groups, and over time. Developing multifunctional forests requires understanding of the dynamic roles of traditions and cultural legacies in social-ecological systems at multiple levels and scales. Implementing policies about multifunctional forests requires a landscape and social-ecological perspective, and recognition of both spatial and temporal features at multiple scales. This study explores the dissemination of even-aged silviculture in central, eastern and northern Europe, and the consequences of choosing different vantage points in social-ecological systems for mapping of barriers, and to identify levers, towards multifunctional forest landscapes. Using a narrative approach, we first summarise the development of even-aged silviculture in four European regions. Next, we focus on Sweden as a keen adopter of even-aged silviculture, and identify levers at three groups of vantage points. They were (1) biosphere with biodiversity as short-hand for composition, structure and function of ecosystems, which support human well-being at multiple scales; (2) society in terms of different levels of stakeholder interactions from local to global, and (3) economy represented by value chain hierarchies and currencies. The emergence of even-aged silviculture >200 years ago formed an expanding frontier from central to northern Europe. Sustained yield wood production and biodiversity conservation encompass different portfolios of ecosystem aspects and spatio-temporal scales. Ignorance and lack of knowledge about these differences enforce their mutual rivalry. An exploratory review of six groups of stakeholders at multiple levels in the traditional industrial forest value chain highlights inequalities in terms of distribution of income and power across different levels of governance. This effectively marginalises other than powerful industrial actors. The distribution of financial results along the value chain is dynamic in space and time, and not all benefits of forest ecosystems can be measured using monetary valuation. There are also other currencies and incentives. A discussion of cultural trajectories in central and eastern European, Russian and Swedish forest management illustrates that forest history patterns repeat themselves. Longitudinal case studies of countries and regions can help foster holistic multi-dimensional and multilevel systems thinking. Application of deep levers of change is likely to require external drivers. A key challenge is to handle the manufacturing of doubt and decay of truth, i.e., the appearance of alternative facts, and the diminishing role of evidence and systems analyses in political and civic discourses. This transition is fuelled by new and rapidly evolving digital arenas