In the past, it was primarily fires that shaped the forest. Today, it is considerably rarer in Sweden. Active forestry limits the possibility for fires to occur and spread.
Globally, large areas of forest are still burning every year, as much as 6.6 million hectares in 2022. The trend is also increasing. Uncontrolled forest fires are dangerous and negative for the forest’s carbon sink. At the same time, it is not strange that forests burn. When a forest is allowed to stand without human influence, sooner or later so much combustible material will have accumulated on the ground that a forest fire is more or less inevitable. Historically, Swedish forests have burned approximately every hundred years. Today, forest fires in Swedish forests are rare.
What is less well known is that forest fire actually has a biological function. The fire gives rise to a pulse of rejuvenation in the forest that allows new plants to sprout.
At the same time, there are many species that are adapted to fire and depend on or benefit from fire. Without the forest fire as a phenomenon, these species would become extinct. Therefore, controlled forest burning is part of the environmental certification for forestry.
Today, so-called conservation burning is used in forestry to create a pulse of rejuvenation. It has become an important effort for biological diversity in nature conservation-adapted forestry.
