NORDIC ARBORETUM COMMITTEE HISTORY IN BRIEF
Arboreta has existed in the Nordic region for almost 200 years. The first well-documented arboretum was established in 1799 in Charlottenlund in Denmark.
In a review of arboretum activity in the various Nordic countries in 1984, nearly 30 arboretums were included where some form of scientific activity is conducted. To this figure you can possibly add the botanical gardens, whose assortment of trees can be very extensive. In addition to these, there are a large number of rich tree collections scattered in the Nordic city, railway, castle and manor parks.
Among the almost 30 better-known arboretums in the Nordic region, there are private, foundation, municipal and state-owned ones. The first two owner categories dominate. Despite the regional and national importance of arboretum operations, government involvement in each country is strangely small. Only in Denmark and Iceland can we speak of a state arboretum. The interest in woody plants has otherwise been accentuated in recent decades. In the 1970s alone, at least three new arboretums were founded in the Nordic region. One of these, the Norwegian Arboretum at Milde, was of decisive importance for the creation of the Nordic Arboretum Committee.
NORDIC ARBORET COMMITTEE (NORDIC ARBORET COMMITTEE) IS FORMED
An important event, from which the initiative to form a Nordic cooperation group for arboretum issues was born, was the founding of the Norwegian Arboretum at Milde in 1971. Its creation was preceded, among other things, by close cooperation between some of the Nordic arboretums. The first meeting of the Nordic Arboretum Committee (NAU) was held in June 1972.
From the beginning, the Arboretum Committee was an independent collaborative group based entirely on the resources of the parent institutions. Since the beginning of the 1980s, NAU has been linked to SNS (Cooperation Committee for Nordic Forestry Research) as one of just under 20 cooperation groups.
The connection to SNS has meant, among other things, that part-financing for the annual meetings could take place through contributions from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The number of members, which has nearly doubled since its inception, is currently 18 (1990) with representation also from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.
The following institutions with arboretum or arboretum-related activities were represented in 1990):
- Denmark: Arboretet, Hørsholm, (Den Kgl. Veterinrer- og Landbohøjskole, Inst. f. Bo tanik, Dendrologi og Forstgenetik) Grönland: Upernaviarssuk forsøgsstation, Julianehåb
- Faroe islands: Skogrøkt Landsins, Torshavn Sverige: Inst. f. Trädgårdsvetenskap, SLU, Alnarp; Göteborgs Botaniska Trädgård; Inst. f. Landskapsplanering, SLU, Ultuna; Arboretum Norr, Umeå
- Finland: Skogsforskningsinstitutet, Vanda; Helsingfors botaniska trädgård; Arboretum Mustila, Elimäki
- Åland: Skogsbruksbyrån, Ålands landskaps styre, Mariehamn
- Norway : Inst. f. Hagebruk, NLH, Ås; Det Norske Arboret, Store Milde; Forsheim Forskningsstasjon, Klubbvik
- Iceland: Rannsóknastød Skógraektar rikisins, Mógilsa, Mosfellsbaer; Reykjavik stad
NAU lacks a formal board but a chairman is appointed every 5 years. The chairmanship shifts between the countries.
