New Perspectives on People and Forests

The aim of this important and relevant book is to elucidate the role of forests as part of a landscape in the life of people. It deals with important topics in landscape ecology, and explores links between people and forest landscapes.

The aim of this book is to elucidate the role of forests as part of a landscape in the life of people. Most landscapes today are cultural landscapes that are influenced by human activity and that in turn have a profound effect on our understanding of and identification with a place. The book proposes that a better understanding of the bond between people and forests as integrated part of a landscape may be helpful in landscape planning, and may contribute to the discussion of changes in forest cover which has been motivated by land use changes, rural development and the global climate debate. To this end, people’s perception of forest landscapes, the reasons for different perceptions, and future perspectives are discussed.

Given the wide range of forest landscapes, and cultural perspectives which exist across the world, the book focuses on Europe as a test case to explore the various relationships between society, culture, forests and landscapes. It looks at historical evidence of the impacts of people on forests and vice versa, explores the current factors affecting people’s physical and emotional comfort in forest landscapes, and looks ahead to how changes in forest cover may alter the present relationships of people to forests.

Drawing together a diverse literature and combining the expertise of natural and social scientists, this book will form a valuable reference for students and researchers working in the fields of landscape ecology and landscape architecture, geography, social science, environmental psychology orenvironmental history. It will also be of interest to researchers, government agencies and practitioners with an interest in issues such as sustainable forest management, sustainable tourism, reserve management, urban planning and environmental interpretation.

Preface

Content

About the authors

Contributors

PART I

1 Introduction – The crooked timber of humanity

Dainis Dauksta

2 Forests in landscapes – The myth of untouched wilderness

Eva Ritter

2.1 People and forests in prehistoric times

2.1.1 Hunter-gatherers in Europe

2.1.2 The mid-Holocene elm decline

2.1.3 The Great Transition

2.1.4 Early agricultural impacts on forests

2.2 Forest development in historical times

2.2.1 The great deforestation of the Ancient World

2.2.2 Impacts on forests in Northern and Central Europe

2.2.3 Forest protection and forest expansion

2.3 Conclusion

3 Overcoming Physicophobia – Forests as the sacred source of our human origins

Roy Jackson

3.1 The forest as nothing more than useful

3.2 Rousseau: Friend of the forest

3.2.1 The demystification of the forest

3.2.2 The “Savage Man”

3.3 Nietzsche and the sacredness of nature

3.3.1 Nietzsche’s criticism of modernity

3.3.2 Nietzsche’s “religious” experience

3.4 Conclusion

PART II

4 Royal forests – Hunting and other forest use in Medieval England

Della Hooke

4.1 Forests as game reserves

4.1.1 The location of forests

4.1.2 Forest rights and administration

4.2 Medieval hunting

4.2.1 Anglo-Saxon hunting and game reserves

4.2.2 Medieval hunting methods

4.2.3 Hunting iconography in medieval literature

4.3 The use of other forest resources

4.3.1 Forest pasture

4.3.2 Other forest products

4.4 The decline of the forests

4.5 Hunting in post-medieval times

4.6 Conclusion

5 Forests as commons – Changing traditions and governance in Europe

ChristopherShort

5.1 Introduction to the commons

5.2 History of forests as commons in Europe

5.2.1 Northwestern Europe and the Alps

5.2.2 Southern Europe

5.2.3 United Kingdom

5.3 How the role and use of forests is changing

5.4 The relationship between people and forest commons

5.5 Conclusion

6 New forest owners – Small scale forestry and changes in forest ownership

Áine Ní Dhubháin

6.1 What is small-scale forestry?

6.2 Characteristics of small-scale forests

6.3 Owners of small-scale forests

6.3.1 Ownership structure

6.3.2 Objectives of small-scale forest owners

6.4 Nature of small-scale forests

6.5 Consequences of the changing ownership structure

6.5.1 Forest fragmentation

6.5.2 Recreation and access

6.5.3 Timber production

6.5.4 Nature conservation

6.6 Conclusion

7 Forest and recreation – New functions of afforestation as seen in Denmark

Carla K. Smink

7.1 Forest recreation: a policy perspective

7.2 Forest use in Denmark

7.3 Afforestation: creation of recreation opportunities

7.4 Conclusion

PART III

8 From post to pillar – The development and persistence of an arboreal metaphor

Dainis Dauksta

8.1 The wooden post in prehistory and the growth of symbols

8.1.1 Timber circles

8.1.2 Celtic and La Tène sites

8.2 The layering of connected symbols

8.2.1 The anthropomorphic tree

8.2.2 The lopped tree, the axe and the thunder god

8.2.3 The Maypole

8.3 The Classical column

8.4 Two modern vestiges of the sacred pillar

8.5 Conclusion

9 Landscape painting and the forest – The influence of cultural factors in the depiction of trees and forests

Dainis Dauksta

9.1 Medieval symbolic and factual landscapes

9.1.1Symbols of Christ, crucifixion and redemption

9.1.2 Perspective, nature and classical mythology

9.1.3 Hunting, forestry and country life

9.2 Poetic landscapes as concept

9.3 New symbolic and factual landscapes

9.4 Modern transcendentalism and symbolism

9.4.1 David Jones; a coalescence of ancient themes

9.4.2 Modern symbolism: irony, the sacred and the secular

9.5 Conclusion

10 Space and place – Popular perceptions of forests

Carl Griffin

10.1 Space and place

10.1.1 A range of perceptions, a range of perspectives

10.1.2 Understanding popular perceptions of forests

10.2 Forests in the landscape and the popular imagination

10.2.1 Changing meanings, changing contexts

10.2.2 Forests as places apart

10.3 The cultural distinctiveness of forests

10.3.1 Floral and faunal cultures

10.3.2 Everyday cultures

10.4 Conclusions: persistences and reimaginings

11 Materiality and identity – Forests, trees and senses of belonging

Owain Jones

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Identity

11.3 Forests, identity and place

11.3.1 Forests as material places of becoming

11.3.2 Forests of places of (sensed) dwelling

11.4 Forests and practices of identities

11.4.1 Global sense of identity

11.4.2 National sense of identity

11.4.3 Regional sense of identity

11.4.4 Local and individual sense of identity

11.5 Complex and contested identities

11.5.1 Forests as spaces of otherness

11.5.2 Forests as places to lose identity

11.5.3 Forests as places to find identity

11.5.4 Forests: Gender and identity

11.6 Conclusion

12 Definition and concepts – The etymology and use of the concepts forests and landscape

Hanna Byskov Ovesen and Kirsten Krogh Hansen

12.1 The use of concepts

12.2 Forest

12.2.1Etymology

12.2.2 Present use

12.3 Landscape

12.3.1 Etymology

12.3.2 Present use

12.4 Conclusion

PART IV

13 Tree use and landscape changes – Development of a woodland area in Sweden

Mårten Aronsson and Eva Ritter

13.1 The area of Bråbygden

13.2 Tree species in the Bråbygden area

13.2.1 The natural tree vegetation

13.2.2 The function and use of tree species

13.3 Human impact on forests, trees and the landscape

13.3.1 Grazing and browsing

13.3.2 Forest fires and slash-and-burn cultivation

13.3.3 Tar distillation and charcoal production

13.3.4 Pollards and leaf-fodder harvesting

13.3.5 Population growth

13.4 Landscape development during medieval times

13.5 Landscape development since the 18^th century

13.5.1 Forest description and forest functions

13.5.2 Landscape development

13.5.3 Land us changes during the 20^th century

13.6 Some thoughts about the future

14 Forest landscapes in Europe – Visual characteristics and the role of arboriculture

Eva Ritter

14.1 Landscape perception and analysis

14.1.1 Landscape perception and preferences

14.1.2 Concepts of landscape analysis

14.2 Visual landscape characteristics

14.2.1 Degree of openness

14.2.2 Complexity and contrast

14.3 Tree use and landscape development

14.4 Aesthetics in landscape management

14.5 Conclusion

PART V

15 Conclusions – Towards a symbiotic relationship

Eva Ritter and Dainis Dauksta

15.1 Contradicting forest values

15.2 Changing attitudes and relationships

15.3 Future perspectives

Index