Protection of cultural heritage in forestry

Intensive forestry in Sweden exerts high pressure on forest ecosystem services. This includes the cultural heritage of forests. Where today, timber production dominates as a primary use, the forest had very diverse functions a few decades ago. Since these elements are often present but hardly known or visible, this can lead to a conflict of use between forestry and cultural preservation. A place where this contrast between past diverse use and current forestry dominated use exist is Tranemåla in Blekinge county in the South of Sweden. The aim of this work is to make this diverse past use of Tranemåla visible again and to reconcile forest management and the visibility of cultural history. For this purpose, a qualitative survey was carried out in the area, mapping the cultural-historical elements. Fifteen different types of cultural relics were recorded during the mapping, including stone walls, tar valleys, torps, stone ovens, and boundary stones among others. In addition, comparison with historical maps made it possible to visualize the evolution of the landscape over the last 200 years. In particular, the development of roads and stone walls that have been built over the years to make the land more accessible became visible through the comparison. Based on this, recommendations for action are made for the forest management plan, policy and maintenance and restoration. The recommendations focus on the integration of the results into the Forest Management Plan and the protection of the elements during forestry work, for example through colorful markings.The results of this work will be used by the Tranemåla Foundation, which owns and manages the area, to restore and maintain the cultural historical elements