User:Battleofalma/Articles/Forest in Sweden

Sweden is a sparsely populated country-with 8.8 million inhabitants

its forests show the impact of many centuries of human use.

The northern interior forests are less affected by humans. Today these forests are largely protected, either as nature reserves or by other means.

Timber industry and industrialisation
In southern Sweden and other regions of the country with a long agricultural tradition, forests served as a source of wood for construction, fuel and the production of tools. Wood from the forests was essential for Sweden's early mining industry, melting ore and in the production of tar. From the Middle Ages, the forests supplied raw materials used in Swedish export products. For several centuries, wood tar, pitch and potash were major sources of income.

Early in the 19th century, high population growth meant wooded areas were cleared to accommodate an increase of smallhold leases. Forests were thinned so that grass could be cultivated to sustain bigger herds of livestock, and Sweden's industrialisation expanded its sawmill industry.

The forest resources of Norrland began to be exploited. The major Norrland rivers were suitable for floating timber to the Baltic Sea, thereby opening up inland forests to logging. The sawmill companies, which purchased very large tracts of land from farmers until 1905, gained a strong position on European timber export markets.

Environmental impact
In southern and southwestern Sweden, farmers cut and burned forests to create fields for short-term cultivation, depleting nutrients from the soil.