Walking among burned trees – a first field visit to the Swedish case

LiFi researchers Eva Lövbrand and Julia Feine visited the village of Kårböle in the municipality of Ljusdal which was threatened by the 2018 forest fires. They conducted interviews with community members and local forest owners to gather an impression of how life has evolved six years after the fires. Read below a short reflection on walking in the burned forest.

Being in the burned but recovering forest is a strange feeling. It creates a tight feeling in one’s chest and yet the lush green of newly sprouted pine trees against the blackened tree trunks and the vibrant red of lingonberry bushes make for a weirdly, aesthetically pleasing scenery. The locals tell us this is the first year the blueberry and lingonberry bushes are returning. Six years after the fires. Nature heals slowly. Here in the nature reserve, the ghostlike, grey skeletons of the trees are still standing tight and the whistling wind almost sounds like the trees are crying. It is not entirely without risk to be there. The dead tree stems can easily tip over in a wind gust since the fire burned their roots. In other places where the forest was clear-cut prior to the fire, there are only rocks left. The fire burned the entire soil, no moss was left. There is however new green there too: birch and asp trees. The favourite treat of the moose a forest owner tells us. Most animals were able to flee the fires and have long returned. This year’s bear and moose hunt are well underway. Life has returned to its usual flow.

The fire has put Kårböle on the map and made it known in Sweden. Since 2018, a great number of journalists and researchers have poured into the village to interview, make documentaries and write papers about the fires. So, understandably not all of who we contact want to speak to us. Those who did speak to us tell a story of solidarity and support during the fires but also how for some, the fire has faded into memory, and other challenges of living in a small, ageing, rural village are at the top of their minds. There is no food store, and no school in Kårböle and the one restaurant left is up for sale. The pride of the village council is the return of the gas station and street lights, which had previously been removed by the municipality. But it’s not all bleak. A nearby wind farm is currently under construction, set to bring benefits to the local community. The community is now exploring ways to use the money from the wind farm to plan for its future. One idea is the installation of solar panels in the area affected by the forest fires, a controversial proposal that will be interesting to follow.