| Summary: | As the past century’s technological development has progressed the Swedish boreal forests have transformed into dense, highly productive, homogenous and coniferous forests. The area around Saxdalen in Ludvika municipality has long been dominated forests which have been heavily worked since the 18th century. There are in Ludvika 119 000 hectares of productive forest land. Around 70 percent are owned by forest companies and 20 by private forest owners. The forestry is governed by national laws and instructions from the Swedish Forest Agency. Foresters may also choose to abide by certification systems such as FSC and PEFC. 80 percent of Swedish productive forest is certified. This thesis is based on literature review and 8 field studies of regeneration fellings in Saxdalen. The purpose of this thesis is to understand to what degree environmental considerations are taken during regeneration fellings to preserve biodiversity. The focus of the thesis has been the preservation of storm sturdy trees, deciduous trees and standing dread trees, larger tree stumps and protected zones around watercourses. The protected zones were found severely lacking in practically all the observed fellings. The quality the trees preserved varied greatly between the fellings. In this study there were no found links between the ownership form or certification system and the considerations taken during regeneration fellings. A lot of parties are involved in fellings and those responsible aren’t always in full control. The work of preserving boreal forests resilience and biodiversity must be conducted in more strategic and coordinated fashion. There must be common criteria and strategies for large forest areas so that species can spread and survive the forestry, especially considering future climate change.
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