Havsjöskogen, Naturreservat

Lakes surrounded by forested hills.

Havsjöskogen is an elevated plateau where the lower Havsjöarna lakes with their surrounding bog mosaics are surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the county. In the south is Värmland's highest mountain, Granberget, which measures 701 meters above sea level. The natural environment is very varied and the area contains large unbroken natural forests, wetlands and a number of fine watercourses.

The natural forests in the area range from fire-affected natural pine forests and deciduous burns to high-altitude spruce forests

The lake system with its streams and rivers is one of the county's most valuable as the watercourses are relatively unaffected by the rafting.

Animals and plants

The relatively large area of unfragmented natural forest, the unbroken

forest continuity and the amount of structures such as dead wood, old late-growth trees, etc. mean that the number of signal and red-listed species is large. Below is a selection of red-listed species and signal species that have been found in the area (threat category according to the Species Database Red List 2020 in brackets where NT = near threatened, VU = vulnerable and EN = highly threatened and S = signal species according to the Swedish Forest Agency):

Birds

Three-toed woodpecker (NT)

Stone Crow (NT)

White-throated sparrow (NT)

Wolverine (NT)

Capercaillie (S)

Grey woodpecker (S)

**Insects

Brown lion (S)

**Vascular plants

Praying mantis (VU)

Coral root (S)

Spindle flower (S)

Spotted knapweed (S)

Torta (S)

Marsh Marigold (S)

Snakeberry (S)

**Lichen

Broktagel (EN)

Long brook nettle (EN)

Norwegian beak lichen (VU)

Aspergillus lichen (VU)

Violet-grey thorn lichen (NT)

Hull lichen (NT)

Lung lichen (NT)

Dwarf beaker lichen (NT)

Pinnate yellow lichen (NT)

Knotted bladderwort (NT)

Brown-powdered needle lichen (NT)

Wolf lichen (NT)

White-shafted black spike (NT)

Wood slice lichen (NT)

White-spotted needle lichen (NT)

Short-shafted spadefoot (NT)

Shiny black spike lichen (NT)

Blue-gray black spike (NT)

Dark coal lichen (NT)

Charcoal lichen (NT)

Stump lichen (S)

Bearded lichen (S)

Louse lichen (S)

Coral lead lichen (S)

Spawning lichen (S)

Shadow blue lichen (S)

Leather lichen (S)

Dwarf tufa (S)

Yellow needle (S)

**Fungi

Grass spurge (VU)

Wrinkled skin (VU)

Fragrant skin (NT)

Old spruce bark (NT)

Spruce budworm (NT)

Starry thorn (NT)

Woolly tick (NT)

Spruce tick (NT)

Flesh tick (NT)

Large aspen tick (S)

Fox tick (S)

Wood tick (S

**Mosses

Wood stair moss (NT)

Flagellated tussock moss (S)

Dark house moss (S)

Western hook moss (S)

Forest hook moss (S)

Red listing is the classification of plant and animal species according to an assessment of their risk of extinction. Signal species is a term used for species that act as indicators when trying to distinguish biotopes with high natural values.

Facilities

The nature reserve is affected by the Nordvärmlandsleden hiking trail, which runs between Höljes in the north to Branäs in the south. Adjacent to the trail at Kvarnsjön there is a windbreak and fireplace. The shelter is also adjacent to one of the snowmobile trails that run through the area. The hiking trail continues and goes past Värmland's highest peak, Granberget. On the top of Granberget there is a lookout tower with a magnificent view of the reserve and the surrounding landscape with blue mountains and both Norwegian and Swedish mountains.