Wetland forests

Wetland forests are forests growing on moist or wet grounds. Common trees in wetland forests are spruce, pine, alder and birch. They grow in pure stands as in alder swamps or in spruce wetlands, or mixed together. A wetland forest can be a part of a bigger forest. The wetland forest is damp, dense and almost jungle like, which is why we sometimes name it Swedish rainforest.

Damp forests rarely have forest fires and since they also are difficult to log, they often contain embedded areas of virgin forest. Human activities have strongly affected and diminished the virgin wetland forests, those still remaining need to be taken well care of. Their mix of old and young, living and dead trees creates the necessary conditions for the survival of many endangered species of animals and plants.

Broad-leaved wetland forests often grow on land earlier used for farming, hay-making or grazing. Most of these wetland forests are dominated by common alder, mixed with bird cherry, sallow, mountain ash, willow and alder buckthorn.  Birch, Betula pubescens, dominates on less fertile soils.

Spruce wetland forests in the south of Sweden are mostly depending on earlier human activities. In the north they can still be primeval forests, and these are of great ecological importance.

To craftsmen these forests are highly interesting, mainly because of the great variety of tree species and dimensions but also because of the possibility to find blanks in different shapes and variations.