The need of raw material does of course fluctuate but the long term view is an increasing demand due to the growing consumption of sawn timber products, pulp, paper and lately also biomass. This has led to a keener competition for wood. At the same time there is an ongoing structural change of a significant part in the Swedish wood supply market, the private forest owners. In 1992, 22 % of Sweden´s 335 000 private forest owner lived apart from their forest. In 2007 this figure had risen to 36 %.

The European Council agreed in 2008 on a climate and energy package to combat global warming. This package is valid for each EU member country and means that greenhouse gas emissions must fall by at least 20% and the EU's energy use to 20%, consisting of Renewable Energy in 2020. The Swedish Government has set stringent climate and energy with the intention to set an example for the rest of Europe. For example, renewable energy sources account for at least 50% of energy use and our climate emissions to fall by 40% by 2020. A combination of these goals and a steadily rising oil price has led to an increased demand for wood fuel in the form of such branches and tops.

The choice of harvest date for leys is one of the most important factors affecting the size and quality of the harvest. An early harvest gives a high nutritive value while a late harvest gives larger quantity. Today?s aim to produce high nutritive leys gives early harvest dates both in primary growth and regrowth in northern part of Sweden. The consequence is a growth in the autumn, a "third harvest".The aim of this master thesis was to study the effects of different harvesting systems and their effect on size, feed quality, wintering and economy for conditions in the northern part of Sweden.

Montagu´s harrier (Circus pygargus) is a diurnal, Eurasian raptor, which migrates from its northern breeding grounds to winter in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sweden, its core breeding area is centred on the island of Öland, with a stable breeding population of approximately 40 pairs. The province of Uppland is on the northern end the distribution range, where 4-8 pairs have regularly bred since the 1980s. In Sweden, the Montagu?s harrier is classified as an endangered (EN) species. This classification is partly due to a lack of preferred nesting habitat, such as shrub-lands or dense wetlands with Claudium spp.

Fuel wood is currently the third largest assortment from the forest in Sweden after pulpwood and lumber. Branches and tops i.e. logging residues are one of the assortments of fuel wood which is a common by-product after harvesting nowadays. The way to utilize, disintegrate and transport the logging residues varies between northern and southern Sweden. Branches and tops are collected throughout the year at appropriate stands, but are consumed mainly wintertime.

The choice of harvest date for leys is one of the most important factors affecting the size and quality of the harvest. An early harvest gives a high nutritive value while a late harvest gives larger quantity. Today?s aim to produce high nutritive leys gives early harvest dates both in primary growth and regrowth in northern part of Sweden. The consequence is a growth in the autumn, a "third harvest".The aim of this master thesis was to study the effects of different harvesting systems and their effect on size, feed quality, wintering and economy for conditions in the northern part of Sweden.

According to TCO (The Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees) the worst threat to the Swedish welfare is that so many people because of bad health and unemployment are not a part of the labour force. If Sweden could make the number of people with health and unemployment problems half the size as today, the GDP would increase with more than five percent. In real money this means 110 billion Swedish kronor a year. According to SCB (Statistics Sweden) the difference between women?s and men?s absence owing to illness should be investigated more closely in order to get at better understanding of the problem.

The analysis of regional development and the formation of regional policy have experienced an increasing importance in Europe and in Sweden during the last decades. There is a widespread assumption that the increasing significance of regions is due to the diminishing role of the nationstate in the era of globalization. This essay suggests that there is a hegemonic discourse, heavily relying on the assumptions of New Regionalism, when addressing regional building. Sometimes described as an ideology, New Regionalism, which is derived from research of successful regions, is based on the assumption that regional competitiveness and autonomy creates economic growth. The Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities (Ansvarskommittén) suggests that Sweden requires new regional structure, due to the increasing expenditures facing the welfare state.

This essay describes and compares the extensive reindeer management to the more intensive, but grazing based, sheep management system in Sweden. Differences and similarities between the two production systems will be investigated by elucidating the economy, land use and possibilities to influence production and economy through breeding, feeding and product development. The reindeer management area covers the northern part of Sweden whilst the sheep management is dispersed over the country. Both reindeer and sheep are ruminants and have relatively high demands on the quality and digestibility of the feed however reindeers graze on mountain-and forest lands whilst sheep often graze inaccessible areas or cultivated grasslands. Selection intensity is generally lower in the reindeer management compared to the intensity in sheep breeding.

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) was incorporated into the Swedish legislation in 2004 through the ordinance Förordningen om förvaltningenav kvaliteten på vattenmiljön (SFS 2004:660). The objective is that all water bodies shall reach a good status by the year 2015. In Sweden the comprehensive plans of the municipalities can play a large role in reaching these goals. A comprehensive plan deals with the long term water and land use of the municipality, which can facilitate an early consideration of water management in the planning process of the municipality. In Sweden five river basin districts have been established in accordance with the Water Framework Directive.

Since the 1950s, the development of modern rotation forestry in boreal Fennoscandia has resulted in a severe reduction of older forests, and a high degree of fragmentation among the small patches that remains of old forest. In Sweden, when performing conservation value assessments in order to identify and preserve the remaining forest habitats, the government authorities use to a significant extent a set of indicator species that indicate habitats of high biological conservation value. One species considered to indicate high conservation values in pine-heath forests is the red-listed ectomycorrhizal (EM) macrofungi Sarcodon scabrosus (Fr.) P. Karst. In the present study, the validity of using S.

Ireland had, by the year of 1998, been an island of war and conflict to some extent for almost 1000 years. The northeast part of the island, called Northern Ireland, had been under British domination for over 25 years when ?the Troubles? ended by the year of 1998. This essay aims towards explaining how the first generation after ?the Troubles? has been shaped in terms of political and religious beliefs and attitudes in the society of Belfast.

This essay describes and compares the extensive reindeer management to the more intensive, but grazing based, sheep management system in Sweden. Differences and similarities between the two production systems will be investigated by elucidating the economy, land use and possibilities to influence production and economy through breeding, feeding and product development. The reindeer management area covers the northern part of Sweden whilst the sheep management is dispersed over the country. Both reindeer and sheep are ruminants and have relatively high demands on the quality and digestibility of the feed however reindeers graze on mountain-and forest lands whilst sheep often graze inaccessible areas or cultivated grasslands. Selection intensity is generally lower in the reindeer management compared to the intensity in sheep breeding.

The third most common conifer in Sweden is Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine). It originates from the western part of North America and was brought here in the end of the 1920s. The lodgepole pine is today allowed for commercial plantations in central and Northern Sweden, excluding high altitude locations. Since 1979 only plantations with scientific purpose are allowed in south-central and south Sweden. This document is focused on how lodgepole pine manage perform compared with Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) in the southernmost part of Sweden, Götaland. The idea came from the fact that the Swedish government is evaluating a notification from the National Forest Agency that suggests lodgepole pine to be allowed for commercial plantation even in southern Sweden.

In the year 1783 a fissure eruption from Laki in the southern part of Iceland produced a large amount of volcanic gases during a period of eight months. The volcanic gases and aerosols spread across the northern hem sphere due to ideal weather conditions and had a substantial impact on the environment, human health and also climate effects. This, so called dry fog, caused severe health problems, which led to death casualties, killing animals, crops and other vegetation. The consequence was a widespread famine which was aggravated by a hard and long winter in 1783/84. Analysis shows that the Icelandic volcanoes are the primary risk to produce dry fog that can affect Sweden.