Whilst the vast forests of Swedish Lapland might look like a wilderness from the air, get in and amongst the trees and they're anything but. Forestry plantations dominate the map, where trees are planted in dense rows and light on the forest floor is a rare sight.Â
The rivers didn't escape the booming timber industry either, historically engineered beyond recognition to float logs downstream to awaiting sawmills. Boulders were ripped from the riverbeds, woody debris was removed and flooring was brought in to simplify the route as much as possible.
The team at Rewilding Sweden is now busy restoring these ecosystems, where the forest and rivers are treated not as separate entities, but entwined waterscapes.
Swedish Lapland is one of ten inspirational rewilding landscapes, brought together by Rewilding Europe to drive forwards the large scale recovery of nature across the continent.
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