Is there a Nordic Model for the treatment of introduced tree species? A comparison of the use, policy, and debate concerning introduced tree species in the Nordic countries

Backman, Fredrick and Mårald, Erland (2016) Is there a Nordic Model for the treatment of introduced tree species? A comparison of the use, policy, and debate concerning introduced tree species in the Nordic countries. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 31 (2). pp. 222-232. ISSN 0282-7581

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Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article compares the use, policy, and debate concerning introduced tree species in the five Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland). These countries have a long common history and are culturally similar. They are often framed under the benchmark of the ?Nordic Model? or even the ?Nordic Forestry Model?. Therefore, we hypothesize that the Nordic countries? treatment of introduced tree species share common aspects, and that global environmental agreements and international currents in science and policy have reinforced these similarities. The comparison shows that globalization is strong and it seems, at least at a first glimpse, that the Nordic countries follow a kind of ?Nordic Model? in their approach to introduced tree species. However, the history and importance of forestry, ecological conditions, afforestation campaigns, traditions of using introduced trees, understandings, and stakeholder positions have shaped different national and even regional path dependencies and circumstances. This, in turn, has transmuted international policy-making, regulations, and discussions into different specific ways to interpret, control, and implement the use of introduced trees in practice. This article concludes that global environmental agreements and international currents in science and policy adapt to diverse national contexts.

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