Forest Fires, Conflict and Disrupted Landscapes

The document argues that forest fires are not merely physical disruptions but events that reveal underlying social and emotional conflicts in landscape planning. Using two Swedish case studies, it demonstrates how fires can highlight clashes between local and national conservation values and the subordination of Sámi herding communities' values to those of foresters. The author advocates for researching extreme landscape events to challenge the perception of landscapes as neutral spaces.

• Forest fires, which have increased in frequency and severity since the mid-2010s, act as catalysts that reveal historical conflicts and create new tensions in landscape governance, challenging the view that landscapes are neutral spaces.
• In Sweden, post-fire landscape governance has manifested as a clash between local landscape values and national or regional conservation efforts, as well as the marginalization of Sámi herding communities' values in favor of forestry interests.
• For people closely connected to affected areas, the disruption caused by fire extends beyond physical damage to include the loss of access, the tarnishing of memories, and the severing of emotional ties.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). Forest Fires, Conflict and Disrupted Landscapes. https://www.sei.org/publications/forest-fires-conflict-and-disrupted-landscapes/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Forest Fires, Conflict and Disrupted Landscapes. 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/forest-fires-conflict-and-disrupted-landscapes/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Forest Fires, Conflict and Disrupted Landscapes |date=18 June 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/forest-fires-conflict-and-disrupted-landscapes/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025forest, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Forest Fires, Conflict and Disrupted Landscapes}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/forest-fires-conflict-and-disrupted-landscapes/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }