Doug Shapley

In 2015 I visited Norway as  part of the Erasmus + Arch Network programme. the purpose of the trip was to exchange ideas and compare management of habitat and wildlife between Scotland and norway.  there are often comparisons made between Scotland and norway because they have a similar geography in many ways. however, from an ecological point of view they are very different, primarily due to the long term human impacts which have heavily modified the Scottish landscape.  Norway is a much more forested country than Scotland with 38% of the land under forest cover compared to just 18%. Not only does this greatly influence the ecology and environment but also how people interact with the environment. In particular, Norwegians have a thriving forest culture and connect to the forest in many ways including forestry, foraging, recreation and hunting. despite the differences in landscape and ecology, similar to Scotland there are still conflicts over the management of wildlife. One thing which is striking though is the connection to the forest and even where species are hunted, monitoring and collaborative action takes place. you can see a detailed report from the trip at the following link