Peter Emil Kaland
Department of Biology
University of Bergen
Norway
Heathlands - Europe's cultural landscape along the Atlantic coast.
The open heathland is Europe's landscape along the Atlantic coast. It stretches from northern
Portugal to the Polar Circle in northern Norway - a distance of some 3600 kilometres (fig. 1).
There are also large areas of heathland in Ireland and Great Britain. The heathland is both a
characteristic type of natural environment and a productive agricultural area, and is part of our
common European cultural heritage Fig. 2, 3).
The heath landscape relies on ecological cooperation between people, animals and plants. For
thousands of years the mild oceanic climate has made it possible for farmers to keep their
animals out on the pastures all-year-round (Fig. 4). The evergreen heather provides winter feed
for the animals.
The heathland is one of Western Europe's oldest man-made landscapes. Stone Age farmers
began to clear the primeval forests using fire, axes, and their grazing animals (fig. 6) to produce
the heathlands (Fig. 7). They began this clearance some 5000 years ago, and by the Viking Age
the whole of Western Europe's coast had been transformed into an open coastal landscape.
The heathlands were at their greatest extent during the 1800s. In central Europe the heathlands
had become over-exploited, and the authorities began to cultivate them. Today modern
agricultural practices and air pollution has led to more than 80% of Europe's heathlands being
converted to fields, meadows, and woodland. We risk losing nearly all the heathlands over the
next couple of generations.
Over the last few decades the heathland has lost much of its importance as an agricultural area.
However, the heathlands are part of the cultural identity of the Europeans who inhabit the
Atlantic coast. This type of landscape is also important for the biological diversity of western
Europe. The beautiful landscape has inspired artistic masterpieces over many centuries. Today
the heathlands are important outdoor leisure areas for millions of Europeans.
Common features of the heathlands throughout Europe.
The heathlands of Western Europe is surprisingly similar despite large geographical differences.
This is due both to the climate and the farming methods used which are more or less the same
throughout Europe. The common features of management over the whole area are:

The farmers have exploited the mild oceanic climate which allows their animals to graze
outside throughout the year (fig. 4). The grasses and herbs die down in the winter, but
then the animals are able to graze on the evergreen Calluna heather (fig. 5) and other
evergreen dwarf shrub species.

The heather has been burnt regularly to revive the pastures (fig. 8). The first year (fig. 9)
after burning the grasses and herbs shoot up, and this provides summer feed for the
animals. Then, over a few years, the heather grows back. Heather burning has been the
farmers' method of keeping the right balance between the heather needed for winter feed
and the grass for the summer (fig. 10).

The European heathlands can be divided into three landscape zones:

Wet northwest Europe including Norway, the Western Isles, northwest Scotland and
Ireland (fig. 11). Mild winters and cool summers with a lot of rain mean that the land
doesn't dry out very much. This results in the development of bogs over large areas of
the landscape. The farms in the northwest area were small compared with the rest of
Europe. The farmers lived simply, combining farming and fishing to provide their
livelihood. Some of their animals grazed on the heathland throughout the year.
Shepherding was unnecessary and the farmers therefore had plenty of free time to
exploit the resources of the sea.

Flat middle Europe encompasses the area from southern Sweden to Brittany in France,
southeast Scotland and England (fig. 12). The heathlands mostly lie on flat meltwater
plains developed during glacial periods. The sandy soils and high summer temperatures
prevent waterlogging and bog development. This results in the heathland areas being
nutrient-poor with only a thin covering of organic soil on top. In middle Europe large
areas of green grassland could develop especially besides rivers and lakes. The farmers
could raise meat cattle by using both the grasslands and the large heathlands. Large
concentrations of populations from early times meant that the products from the
heathlands in this region were part of a market economy. The farmers didn't need to be
self-sufficient. They earned money by selling goods and could specialise on products
that provided a good income. The heathlands were susceptible to great pressures for
higher production. Parts of the grazing areas were over-exploited from very early on.

Colourful southern Europe includes the area from southern France to northern
Portugal (fig. 13). Here the heathland vegetation is more species-rich than further north,
and is therefore more colourful. The high summer temperatures result in the heather
being susceptible to drying-out. The heather is therefore found mainly up in the
mountain areas where it is cooler and more rain falls. Terracing was a good solution to
farming the steep hillsides of Spain and Portugal. By supplying plant materials from the
heathlands, animal manure, and collecting rainwater, the farmers kept the terrace soils
nutritious and productive. Here they were able to grow all they wanted: vegetables,
corn, olives, wine grapes. Everything was dependent on the nutrients derived from the
heathlands close by.
The heathland farm - infields and outfields.
In principle, Europe's heathland farms have the same structure everywhere, with small infield
areas and large outfield areas (fig. 14).
The infield area consists of cultivated fields and hay meadows. Here the farmhouses, the cow
byres, and other farm buildings are situated. This area is usually fenced off so that the animals
do not graze on the crops.
The infields need large quantities of nourishment for plant production as the soils of the
heathland farms are often poor and lacking in nutrients. Today we use fertilizers, but in the past
the farmers obtained all the goodness from the outfield area. There was an old saying: "the
outfield is the mother of the infield".
The outfield area includes the extensive heathlands. Over thousands of years they have been:

Grazing for animals (Fig. 15). The heathlands have provided nourishment for the
animals throughout the year. The farmers also used their animals for transporting
nutrients from the outfields to the infields. The animals grazed out on the heathlands
during the day. At night they were taken into a byre or pen until the following morning.
The manure which they produced overnight was later carried to the cultivated fields. In
this way the animals were used to transfer the nutrients from the outfields to the infields.

As collection areas for heather (Fig. 16) for both fodder and for straw under the
animals. It was usual to collect heather using a sickle or scythe in summer to provide
extra fodder for the animals if they had to stand in byres during the winter.

As collection areas for turves as part of the fertilizing process (Fig. 17). It was
important for the farmers to collect the animals' urine. This they did by mixing the
manure with turves which absorbed the urine. The widespread bogs provided the
farmers of northwest Europe with an almost limitless supply of turves. In the flat middle
European areas they used the thin organic soil layer below the heather plants
(Plaggenwirtschaft, sod cutting)(Fig. 18).

Turves for burning(Fig. 19). The farmers cut turves for burning from the bogs in the
heathlands.
The heathlands – an endangered cultural landscape.
The heathlands were most widespread during the 1800s. In central Europe the heathlands were
then over-exploited, and the authorities made an effort to cultivate them. Today modern farming
methods and air pollution have led to the conversion of more than 80% of Europe's heathlands
to fields, meadows, and woodland. In one or two generations we risk losing all our heathlands if
we don't face up to our responsibilities.
The heathlands are lost in the following ways:

Cultivation. This happens when the heathlands lie on cultivatable soils.

Forest planting. Europe has great need of timber for the paper industry and for
building. The open heathlands are therefore very attractive for planting forests.

Natural woodland regeneration. The remaining heathland areas have been left in
many places to become overgrown with scrub and woodland. This is especially
common in northern Europe. The heathlands are man-made, and vanish if they are not
properly maintained.

Pollution. The heathlands are sensitive to nitrate pollution from the atmosphere. This
acts in the same way as fertilizers, causing the heather to be displaced by other plants.
The heather heathland is converted to grass heathland. Nitrogen pollution is a big
problem on the continent where they are trying to preserve heathland areas as nature
reserves and outdoor leisure areas.

Heather death occurs from attacks by the heather beetle. It breeds vigorously when the
heather plants are more nutritious due to nitrate pollution. It feeds so much that the
heather dies. With shorter and shorter intervals between beetle attacks, large heathland
areas can be seen to die out - heather death is a fact!
Will we be able to use the heathlands in the future?

The heath landscape is the result of a unique ecological cooperation between people,
plants, and animals.

The heathlands bind 11 nations together by a common landscape and land-use history and a common identity.

The heath landscape is today an important outside leisure area for millions of people
who live along the Atlantic coast.

The heath landscape is part of Europe's cultural landscape diversity.

The heathlands' traditional animal breeds have genetic characteristics which may be
important for the development of new animal breeds in the future. The traditional
animals must remain in their traditional environments.

If the heathlands vanish, so does heather honey and other products of this landscape.
Liste over figurer.
Fig. 1: The Heathlands covered vast areas of the West European landscape during the
nineteenth century.
Fig. 2: Johan Fredrik Nicolai Vermehren: “A German shepherd on the heath” Painting 1855
(© Statens Museum for Kunst).
Fig.3: It is almost 150 years since Vermehren painted his picture (fig. 2) of the shepherd on
the heath, but one can still meet shepherds on Portuguese heathlands. The plastic bag
carrying the knitting materials are the only clue to the difference in time. (© Svein
Haaland)
Fig. 4: The Norwegian wild sheep breed looks after itself throughout the year, no matter
what the weather is. This is an advantage for the heathland farmers along the Norwegian
coast. Instead of having to look for their sheep, they can make much of their time to
harvest the sea. (© Svein Haaland)
Fig. 5: The Calluna heather is an evergreen plant which tolerates poor soil and hard grazing
pressure. (© Peter Emil Kaland)
Fig. 6: The early farmers burnt the forest and kept the vegetation open by hard grazing of
cattle, sheep and goats. (© Geir Helgen)
Fig. 7: Pollen diagrams indicate that the forest was burnt and than followed up by heath
burning. (© Peter Emil Kaland)
Fig. 8: Traditional heather-burning in Western Norway. (© Peter Emil Kaland)
Fig. 9: The cycle of heath management. (© Peter Emil Kaland/Kjersti Isdal)
Fig. 10: A good heathland farmer only burns small areas of heather at any one time. This
Scottish landscape therefore takes on the appearance of a patchwork quilt, with areas of
burnt heath of different sizes, densities and ages. (© Peter Emil Kaland)
Fig. 11: The heathland farms in Northwest Europe are often close to the sea. The infields are
small, but in the vast outfields the animal can graze on both heather and peat. (© The
HEATHCULT project)
Fig. 12: The farms in the central heathland areas of Europe often lie close together,
surrounded by a large, flat heathlands. Meadows are laid out along the river courses, are
supplied with manure from the heathlands, and also irrigated with nutrient-rich water. (©
The HEATHCULT project)
Fig. 13: In southern Europe most heathlands are high up in the mountains. The farmers in
these mountainous districts find the most fertile soils in small valleys and along water
courses where they cultivate their fields. (© The HEATHCULT project)
Fig. 14: A small farm from Western Norway. (© Eva Gjerde)
Fig. 15: Sheep grazing on heathland in Western Norway. (© Egil Korsnes)
Fig. 16: A Danish farmer mows heather. (© Herning Museum)
Fig. 17: Farmers in Northwest Europe fetch peat moss from the bogs. The dry peat moss is
used as bedding for the animals, and later as fertilizer on the cultivated fields. (© Peter
Emil Kaland)
Fig. 18: “Plaggenwirtscahft” or sod cutting was a method the farmers used for increasing the
supply of nutrients to the infields. The method was practised throughout the heathland
area. It took almost 100 years for the heather turf to regrow until it was ready to be
harvested again.
Fig. 19: Gathering peat takes place in spring and early summer, after the ploughing and
sowing, but before harvest. The turves dry out during the summer, and are taken in early
in the autumn. (© Rolf Müller)