Model Forest activity in Sweden was considerable in 2007, with the launch of the Bergslagen Model Forest in Central Sweden and work begun in the district north of the Vilhelmina Model Forest, in the far north of Sweden, with the Laipipir Model Forest. A fourth site, in the south, is also under consideration. Sweden (at Sundsvall) was also the site of the January 2006 launch of the eight-country European Union-supported “Baltic Forest” initiative, which includes a work package on Model Forests.

As part of its technical support to these varied initiatives, the IMFNS, through its Circumboreal Model Forest strategy, supported a study tour for two Swedish Model Forest representatives to a number of Canadian Model Forests. Over a three-week period in October and November Robert Axelsson and Eric Ederlöf visited the Eastern Ontario and Fundy Model Forests, met with representatives of the Abitibi Model Forest, interviewed partners and stakeholders, attended Board meetings, and otherwise fully explored the Model Forest experience from the Canadian perspective.

In February, and based upon findings from the Axelsson and Ederlöf visit, a group of Canadian MF representatives will be invited to Sweden to continue the knowledge exchange as well as identifying opportunities for collaboration.