Empowering marginal lifescapes: the heritage of crofters in between the past and the present

Svensson, Eva; Amundsen, Hilde Rigmor; Holm, Ingunn; Hulling, Hans; Johansson, Annie; Löfgren, Jan; Nilsson, Pia; Nilsson, Stefan; Pettersson, Susanne; Stensby, Vigdis

doi:10.1080/13527258.2017.1362579

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Svensson et al 2018). The separation of agriculture from forest management during the 20 th century (mainly by abandonment of forest grazing and haymaking on wetlands) initiated a loss of cultural memory of forests as old cultural landscapes.…”

Section: Loss Of Cultural Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

What is biological cultural heritage and why should we care about it? An example from Swedish rural landscapes and forests

Eriksson¹

2018

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Citation: What is biological cultural heritage and why should we care about it? An example from Swedish rural landscapes and forests. Nature Conservation 28: 1-32. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.28.25067 AbstractThere is currently a growing concern that biocultural heritage is threatened in many landscapes. This paper focuses on biological cultural heritage, broadly meaning biological cultural traces that are considered as heritage, but leaving out other aspects of the biocultural heritage concept. An operational definition of biological cultural heritage (BCH) is suggested, based on niche construction theory: "biological manifestations of culture, reflecting indirect or intentional effects, or domesticated landscapes, resulting from historical human niche construction". Some factors that influence recognition of BCH are discussed, using a comparison between Swedish open to semi-open vs. forested landscapes. While the former landscapes are generally associated with biological cultural values, BCH is generally over-looked in forests. Two main reasons for this are suggested: loss of cultural memory and a perception of forests as wilderness. A conclusion is that recognition of BCH is essential for guiding development of biological conservation programmes in forests, irrespective of whether the conservation goal is to focus on culturally impacted forests or to conserve what is considered as close to pristine forests. Furthermore, recognising BCH in forests will promote interest and learning of the history of forests and their values and will be informative for developing conservation programmes for all biota in forests, not only those that historically were favoured by culture. Hence, there is no inherent conflict between preserving relatively untouched forests and those with remaining traces of pre-industrial forest management. The recognition of BCH in forests will inspire and promote further integration of cultural and natural heritage research. Keywords REVIEW ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalOve Eriksson / Nature Conservation 28: 1-32 (2018) 2

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Section: Loss Of Cultural Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

What is biological cultural heritage and why should we care about it? An example from Swedish rural landscapes and forests

Eriksson¹

2018

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“…This 'loss of cultural memory' (Eriksson 2018) implied that the remains of crofters fell outside the heritage discourse (e.g. Svensson et al 2018). Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson (2019) remarked that the fact that material remains older than 1850 since 2014 are legally protected in Sweden (and many crofts are older than this date) implies that the crofter's history ('tradition') has to be revived.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Welinder 2007;Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson 2019). As remarked by Svensson et al (2018), crofters have largely fallen outside a so-called 'authorised heritage discourse', i.e. 'aesthetically pleasing material objects, sites, places and/or landscapes that current generations "must" care for, protect and revere so that they may be passed to nebulous future generations for their "education", and to forge a sense of common identity based on the past' (Smith 2006, 29).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Landscapes are sometimes described metaphorically as a palimpsest, possessing chronologically multilayered features, where each layer is manifested by material remains, both 'natural' and resulting from human activities, conveying knowledge and perhaps memories of past times, which are interpreted or re-interpreted in a present-day context (e.g. Bazan et al 2018;Svensson et al 2018). In this study, we examine one of these layers in a landscape in southeastern Scandinavia: biological cultural traces from abandoned crofts in a forested region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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’Gooseberry is the only thing left’ – a study of declining biological cultural heritage at abandoned crofts in the province of Södermanland, Sweden

Eriksson

Lundin

2020

International Journal of Heritage Studies

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This is a study about cultivated and 'wild' plants as components of the material heritage of crofters, an overlooked group of people in former agrarian landscapes. Despite abundant remains of crofts in Sweden, inhabited during the period from the eighteenth century until the 1940s, crofters have been subject to few studies. We used a survey conducted 1967 of botanical remains at abandoned croft as a basis for a re-survey in 2019. As with all biological traces of former human activities, cultivated plants and wild species favoured by former management ultimately disappear, but with long delays. We describe the patterns of this decline. In general, about a third of the species were gone after 52 years. The rate of disappearance of single species occurrences was about 1% annually. We discuss the interpretation of botanical remains from since long abandoned crofts in the context of heritage. In some cases, the botanical remains were the only material evidence left. We conclude that the material heritage of crofters deserves further studies and that botanical remains at abandoned crofts should be documented and at least at some sites protected.

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“…What is valued as cultural heritage is not fixed. Landscapes have sometimes metaphorically been considered as a palimpsest, composed of layers of features representing remains of human activities from different times (e.g., Svensson et al, 2018). These layers can be manifested biologically (e.g.…”

Section: Cultural Heritage In Semi-natural Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coproduction of Food, Cultural Heritage and Biodiversity by Livestock Grazing in Swedish Semi-natural Grasslands

Eriksson

2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Livestock has been a backbone of people's livelihood as long as agriculture has existed in Scandinavia, c. 6,000 years. In the early Iron Age, c. 2,000 years ago, a land management system began to form, composed of infields (enclosed hay-meadows and crop fields) and outlying land used for livestock grazing. Despite many later innovations and societal changes affecting agricultural technology and practices, this way of organizing land use was a template for how landscapes were managed and structured until the modernization of agriculture and forestry during the last centuries. There are legacies of this historic land-use, mainly as “semi-natural grasslands” managed by livestock grazing (open or semi-open; long continuity of management; not much influenced by commercial fertilizers, plowing etc.). These semi-natural grasslands harbor an exceptional small-scale biodiversity, particularly plants and insects. Landscapes with semi-natural grasslands represent cultural heritage, and are appreciated for their beauty. The total area of semi-natural grasslands has declined considerably during the past 100 years, and the current trend suggest that further declines are expected. A large fraction of threatened biodiversity in Sweden thrives in these grasslands. Livestock grazing in semi-natural grasslands makes an important contribution to food production, and there is an increasing interest in consumption of products, mainly meat, from these grasslands. This implies that there is a positive feedback between food production, maintenance of biological diversity, and cultural heritage. This paper gives an overview of semi-natural grasslands, focusing on Sweden, from a historic, cultural and ecological perspective, and aims at discussing challenges and prospects for developing and maintaining positive associations between producing food, biodiversity, and cultural heritage, in the future.

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Empowering marginal lifescapes: the heritage of crofters in between the past and the present

Abstract: Empowering marginal lifescapes: The heritage of crofters inbetween the past and the present. International Journal of Heritage Studies (IJHS)

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

What is biological cultural heritage and why should we care about it? An example from Swedish rural landscapes and forests

What is biological cultural heritage and why should we care about it? An example from Swedish rural landscapes and forests

’Gooseberry is the only thing left’ – a study of declining biological cultural heritage at abandoned crofts in the province of Södermanland, Sweden

Coproduction of Food, Cultural Heritage and Biodiversity by Livestock Grazing in Swedish Semi-natural Grasslands

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