Holje, Naturreservat

Holje Nature Reserve is a steep, rocky and wooded hill. It is an old forest that has been left untouched for a long time, with trees that are well over a hundred years old. The stone walls in the area mark the division of older times into different parcels and fenced agricultural land. Holje is at its most beautiful in the spring, when the sunlight filters down through the light green foliage of the beech trees.

Holje is located in the Vilshultsån valley, about 2 km north of Olofström. About 100 years ago, Holje was a semi-open grazing landscape. This can be seen in the oaks with wide crowns and the beech trees that remain, there is also some juniper. Over the past 100 years, the forest has been allowed to grow freely.

Forest area valuable for many species

On the slopes there is a beech-dominated deciduous forest with elements of oak, hornbeam and birch as well as occasional large aspens. On the heights there is a mixed forest of mostly oak and pine. The trees are home to lichens and mosses such as beech lichen, grainy blanket lichen, barnacle lichen and trap moss. Interesting fungi include candelabra fungus and cinnabar spindle.

The shady environment of the forest means that there are few plants on the ground, but the vegetation is richer in glades and along verges. Here you can find squirrelberry, cuckoo pea and wild violet. In spring, the ground is covered with carpets of wood anemones and bluebells.

There are plenty of dead lying and standing trees in the nature reserve. Dead wood is very valuable for a number of species, especially insects and fungi. In Holje you can find a number of wood-living beetles, including the black-winged fungus beetle.

The abundance of dead wood and insects also attracts birds such as the lesser spotted woodpecker, the common chough and the green wren. Woodpeckers can forage and nest in the dead trees. Goshawks have also been seen in the area.