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Ever since the first human settlements in the Baltic Sea
basin have wetlands been drained and forests cleared.
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The first farmers in the area settled around 3,500 BC.
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About 1000 AD a landscape with organized villages had
developed.
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Forestry is an important resource especially in Sweden,
Norway and Finland.
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There are several types of wetlands: deltas, coastal
wetlands, floodplains, rivers, lakes, forested wetlands, marshes, fens and
bogs.
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Rivers used to be entry points for waterways for
transportation to the inland. Nowadays the rivers also often are used for
energy production.
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Wetlands have often been drained to meet the need for more
arable land.
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The draining of the landscape has consequences, e.g.
the ground water tabled is lowered.
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Modern city are the result of four waves of urbanization:
centers for trade in Viking times, centers for markets in medieval times,
the industrialization during the 19th century, the depopulation of the
countryside since 1950.
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Landscape ecology discusses two aspects on how the landscape
functions. First, changes in individual elements or patches. Second, the
composition, structure or function of the individual patches.
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High biodiversity in the region is related either to
the virgin forest or to the traditional agricultural landscape.
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In an attempt to protect valuable landscapes for the future
a number of National Parks and Nature Reserves have been established.
