From idea to final-year project

19 January 2026

Hello! 

My name is Klara Logård, and you are about to join me on my master’s project – to South America, and more specifically, Chile! I belong to the very first cohort of forestry science students in Umeå, and I have since completed the master’s programme Forest Ecology and Sustainable Management, also in Umeå.

The programme has been incredibly broad. Naturally, we have studied forestry, but just as much ecology, as well as some chemistry, economics, law, climatology, and everything in between. As students, we have truly been able to shape our own education through a wide range of elective choices. What I value most from the programme is everything we have seen and experienced during our trips and field excursions.

Now to my master’s project: I am writing a 60-credit thesis, which corresponds to a full academic year.

My thesis focuses on one of Chile’s Indigenous peoples, the Kawésqar, and their use of natural resources, with a particular emphasis on forests. They previously lived as nomads and travelled through the Strait of Magellan and the waters of southern Patagonia in canoes built from bark. The bark was taken from southern beech trees, many of which are still standing today. By dating when the bark was removed, I can determine when people lived in these areas and then attempt to reconstruct the forest structure.

To survive in these environments, they - like many other Indigenous peoples - developed advanced methods to make the best possible use of the resources available to them. My focus is on how both terrestrial and aquatic resources were used, and how this has influenced, and continues to influence, the forest. Why is this relevant, you might ask? At present, there is considerable discussion about how forests should be managed and about increasing the area of protected forest. Understanding and acknowledging that most forests considered “untouched” often bear traces of people who once lived in and depended on them - and that this affects the values these forests hold today - is crucial.

Even in the area we are travelling to - eight hours by boat from the nearest civilisation - these traces of human activity can be found, much like in the mountain forests of the Nordic region. It is therefore important to understand why forests look the way they do in order to preserve these values in the future. Another important aspect is to highlight and study ways of using forests that differ from what we take for granted in modern forestry. Perhaps we can learn something from people who have lived in and off the forest for thousands of years.

During the autumn term, I focused on familiarising myself with the area and developing a method for studying cultural remains and forest structure. My supervisors are Lars Östlund and Elle Eriksson. During January and February, we are conducting fieldwork in Chile, where I am currently sitting, looking out over the sea, and writing this text. During the remainder of the spring, I will compile all the data and focus heavily on writing.

It is now time to wrap up this blog post. In the next post, you will get to join us on our journey through Chile!