Tjärby sanddynsreservat, Naturreservat

Tjärby is an old flying sand field that was planted with pine about a hundred years ago. The sand field has an exciting history dating back to the Bronze Age. There are several nature trails and forest roads in the reserve that you can hike on.

Tjärby is located about three kilometers from the sea and this is where the sand comes from. With the help of the wind, the sand has been transported inland. The reserve is the easternmost part of a large drift sand field that stretches from Lagan in the south to Genevadsån in the north. We do not know exactly when the sand drift began, but there is much to suggest that it started on a smaller scale already during the Bronze Age. But it was not until the 16th and 17th centuries that sand drifting culminated.

Many reasons for sand drift

The pine forest in the reserve has only been here for just over 100 years. Until the end of the 19th century, the area was a treeless drifting sand field with flowering sand heaths. The sandy field had long been used as pasture by local farmers. Peat and seaweed, and earlier also firewood and timber, were taken from here. But the intensive use of the land led to problems. In the 17th and 18th centuries, farmers became increasingly concerned about flying sand covering roads and crops. They first tried to stop the sand with fences and rice paddies, but eventually they had to take action. In an attempt to contain the sand, conifers were planted, as well as non-native species such as Scots pine and wild rose.

Animals and plants

Tjärby sand field consists of sand dunes of different sizes. The dunes have different directions depending on how and where the sand dunes were built. Some dunes rise 10 meters above the surrounding land. In the western part of the reserve, there is a beautiful dune that extends through the entire reserve. Under the pines, dense mats of various types of rice plants, reindeer lichen and beech lichen spread out. In the northeast there used to be a lake, "Sandfloen", which was drained in the 1800s. There is now a damp deciduous forest fen. In the reserve you can meet the lesser crossbill, tufted titmouse, gray shrike and great spotted woodpecker. The rabbit also thrives in the sandy environment, where it can dig its burrows.