Fäbodträsket

The pine forest around Fäbodträsket has grown wild, with plenty of 250 year-old trees. Old, gnarled pines and hanging lichens give the forest a magical, wild character. Mires wind their way through the landscape, some containing small mire lakes. A gravel road passes through the northern part of the reserve. If you want to visit the southern parts, on the other hand, you can get there by following a forest road that runs to the south of the reserve.

The majority of the forest has only been subjected to careful, selective logging. Between Hitersttjärnen and Fäbodträsket there is a low esker that is home to a beautiful natural pine forest, including pines up to 300 years old, snags and fallen trees.

The mires in the reserve are poor in nutrients. In a couple of places you can see dilapidated hay-making barns at the edge of the mire. These bear witness to the fact that the mires were once extremely important as hay-making land.

In the reserve, you have a good chance of encountering ancient forest birds, such as the black woodpecker, the Siberian jay, the capercaillie, the Tengmalm’s owl and the crested tit.

Fires have shaped the pine forest

Dry forest land containing pine forest has always been exposed to the ravages of forest fires. Over the millennia, nature has adapted to these fires. A number of plants and animals are even dependent on the burning of the forest for their survival. For example, some species live on charred trunks and in fire-damaged wood.

You can see plenty of traces of previous fires in the reserve. It is easy to find charred tree stumps, while on the older trees there are sometimes overgrown traces of fire damage, known as fire scarring. It is a long time since the last forest fire ravaged the area. In the future, controlled conservation fires will be conducted in the reserve. This will provide fire-dependent species such as insects and larvae with new habitats.