Lövängen i nordöstra Skåne

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to study how the wooded hay meadow of the forest district of northeastern Scania is preserved today, and what local history it has, to thereby achieve a better understanding of the dynamics of the landscape and the complex of problems involved in keeping a historical element of the cultural landscape alive. To accomplish this, literature concerning the subject has been studied, experts have been consulted and an example, the old farm Sporrakulla in Östra Göinge municipality, has been studied. The paper states that the wooded hay meadow constitutes an important part of the history of northeastern Scania, where it provided leaf fodder and hay for the farmers keeping cattle. Today, however, only a few wooded hay meadows remain. One of these is the studied example at Sporrakulla, where juridical protection like Natura 2000 and financial support of maintenance like miljöersättningar make sure that the wooded hay meadow will remain. Other than the wooded hay meadow as a whole, things that interest the authorities to preserve are its individual elements such as the pollarded trees, the areas for haymaking and following grazing and the biological diversity arisen from this usage. Due to the wooded hay meadow's part in the identity of the northeastern part of Scania, this presents another important cause for preservation. In the paper, reflections about the importance of active cultural history are presented as well as if respectively how this applies to Sporrakulla. Examples of such occurrences are to make hay with a scythe like in the old days as well as to use the hay produced as fodder for cattle. Yet another example is to not let the cultural area stagnate, but to, as pollarded trees grow old and run the risk to disappear, allow new, young trees to grow into age of future pollarding. These factors contribute to an active establishment that, as opposed to a purely conserved establishment, incorporate time as a factor in the per definition dynamic wooded hay meadow. It is proposed that the establishment at Sporrakulla on several aspects show active cultural history, and that the preservation carries importance for the region's identity and pride of former generations' labour. It is also proposed that to uphold a continually durable preservation, it is of importance that the methods and tools for preservation are chosen so that the individual land owners take an active interest in the preservation work.