From common to private ownership – KSLAT nr 7-2013

Forest tenure development in Sweden 1500–2010

To learn from failures as well as successes is crucial if programmes for landscape transformation and restoration are to succeed. The Nordic model, with stable institutions, markets and clear rules for the actors based on a democratic system, creates a stable ground for the development of a successful tenure system.
This issue of the Academy’s journal describes the tenure development in Sweden during the last 500 years, using mainly Swedish-language material previously unavailable to an international readership. The aim is to identify different actors and stages of the development, using possession rights and non-exclusive user rights as a point of departure.
It is clear that private ownership of forest is a contributing factor to the success of the Nordic forestry model. A closer look reveals a partly dramatic transition from the tenure forms of traditional society into present-day forms – and today the ownership model is again contested. Once secure in their tenure, the peasants started exploiting the now valuable timber resource, and later, more reluctantly, began to employ modern management methods in spite of the extremely long investment horizon in northern silviculture.

Text: Fredrik Ingemarson & Jan-Erik Nylund

KSLAT no. 7-2013 in print is unfortunately sold out.

KSLAT nr 7-2013 är tyvärr slut i tryckt version.