The role of slash and burn cultivation in the formation of southern Estonian landscapes and implications for nature conservation

•Fire cultivation played an important role in the formation of the patterns in rural landscapes in Southern Estonia.•The former slash and burn areas have been the most changeable areas as shown in the study of Nineteenth Century maps.•The former slash and burn areas are identifiable in the present landscape and are mainly transformed into forest.•Knowledge of the historical significance of slash and burn is essential for the development of policies for nature conservation.•The impacts of fire cultivation on the forest habitats need future study. Cultural landscapes result from the application of traditional management practices usually over centuries and are amongst the most valued in Europe. However, their composition is widely threatened by modern agriculture. It is therefore necessary to understand the historical factors involved in their formation, so that appropriate policies can be developed for maintaining their character. The present paper assesses for the first time the importance of slash and burn cultivation in the formation of current landscape patterns in Southern Estonia. Although generally associated with the tropics, this practice commenced in the Baltic region in the Bronze Age and persisted until the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The historical background to the practice is given and a detailed study is then described from Karula National Park in Southern Estonia. Parcels of different land covers were digitized from 51 farm maps for five dates from the 1860–1870's to the present day in order to record the changes. In the mid Nineteenth Century slash and burn parcels covered 35% of the farms lands. Because of the hilly relief 79% of the parcels have returned to forest during the Twentieth Century. The comparable changes are characteristic of other upland areas in Southern Estonia. The management policy in the Park needs to take into account the role of slash and burn in the formation of these areas of forest and their contribution to the modern landscape structure. The contribution to biodiversity of the secondary forests in the former slash and burn areas needs future study.