In the past 200 years, forest use and management have changed greatly as a response to changing demands on forests by society. This development is reconstructed and analysed in a regional case study of the Swiss lowlands.
Nearly 600 forest management plans were evaluated using a source-critical approach. This has made it possible to reconstruct the development of the areas covered by coppice, coppice-with-standards and high forest stands since 1820. In 1820, more than two thirds of the forest area was covered by coppice or coppicewith- standards stands. Whereas the simple coppice st,mds almost completely disappeared dunng the 19th century, most of the decline of the coppice-withstandards forests did not occur until the middle of the 20th century. Today, only about 10% of the forests are such Stands.
The forest manag-ement plans and the annual reports of the forest administration also contain considerable information about secondary uses of woodland. The developments of wood pasture, litter-collecting, agricultural use and the commercial use of oakbark are documented.
These developments are discussed in relation to the wider economy at that time. Important factors were the influence of agricultural modernisation in the late 18th and early 19th century; the improvement of transport facilities as the railway system was being built; and last but not least, the interests of the forest administration.