Sveaskog's most southerly ecopark inaugurated

Thursday 6 October saw the inauguration of Raslången Ecopark, Sweden's most southerly ecopark situated on the border between Skåne and Blekinge. The park, the only one of its kind in the southern deciduous forest belt, covers an area of about 1,300 hectares and is the 29th to be established by Sveaskog.

Raslången is Sveaskog's only ecopark in the southern deciduous forest region. It is situated on the border between Olofström municipality in Blekinge and Kristianstad municipality in Skåne. At the centre of the park lies Raslången Lake, after which the park is named. The lobate shoreline with its forested surroundings creates a wilderness character that is unusual in these parts of Sweden.

Raslången is marked by valuable tree species. Beech dominates, complemented by oak. There are tracts of extremely old, large beech trees which wood beetles, rare lava and mosses as well as many species of birds flourish in. Beech and spruce coexist in the park. It is here that the extremities of their respective European wanderings lie, northward from continental Europe for beech and southward from northern Sweden for spruce.

"It's amazing that this should occur just at the location of Raslången Ecopark. Species meet this way in very few places in the world. Beech and spruce are ecologically similar, though; they both establish themselves in shady environments and here in the ecopark they are battling for supremacy. Which will win the day, beech or spruce? A very interesting ecological process is taking place right here," says Gisela Björse, nature conservation specialist at Sveaskog in Götaland.

72 percent of the area at Raslången will be allocated for nature conservation. The long term goal is to establish more broadleaf deciduous forest in the park since this is generally under represented on the Swedish landscape. 

"The unique thing about Raslången Ecopark is that it lies in the southern deciduous forest region. The nature value in the park at present concerns the older beech forest. In the production forests that will become nature conservation forests, the planted spruce will be left to grow to harvesting size and then be replaced by valuable species, primarily beech," says Sara Östh, who was responsible for the inauguration.

The event was attended by representatives from, among others, Sveaskog, the Swedish Forest Agency and the County Administrative Boards of Skåne and Blekinge as well as Olofström municipality in Blekinge. The day started with a tour of the park. The actual ceremony was held after lunch on the shore of Raslången Lake at the end of the western bay. Olof Johansson, Head of Environment and Sustainable Development for Sveaskog, made a speech and Björn Risinger, the General Director for the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management unveiled a symbolic stone bench in diabase, a type of rock found in the park.

For more information contact:

Gisela Björse, nature conservation specialist at Sveaskog, tel. +46 (0)70 - 326 28 85
Sara Östh, nature conservation specialist at Sveaskog, tel. +46 (0)70 - 390 54 59
Esbjörn Wahlberg, press officer at Sveaskog, tel. +46 (0)70 - 231 35 02