Fräkensjömyrarna, Naturreservat

Here you can walk for days through a landscape completely dominated by the sounds and shapes of wild nature. In the spring, skylarks, cranes and little owls call over the marshes, while barn owls can be heard at night.
In spring, the little grebe calls over the marshes. Photo: Mikael Solebris

The large bog complex Fräkensjömyrarna spreads over almost 30 square kilometers on the border between Värmland and Dalarna. Since 2001, almost two-thirds of this area has been protected as a nature reserve.

The reserve was established to preserve a natural area with its valuable mire complex, forest vegetation, hydrology, biodiversity and wilderness character. The area is part of the EU's Natura 2000 network of protected areas.

Conservation burns

The pine forests in Fräkensjömyrarna bear traces of older forest fires. Many plants and animals thrive in the sparse, sun-warmed pine forest after a forest fire, and for some of them, forest fire is even a must for their survival. We carry out conservation burns as part of the management of this nature reserve.

Varied flora and fauna

Between elongated north-south moraine ridges, bogs of various kinds extend in diverse stretches. Marshes influenced by groundwater are interspersed with poor, arched bogs, which are only nourished by precipitation. The most common, however, is the northern-style 'monkey mire', which sometimes develops beautiful systems of rice and grass-covered strands between steps of dark water-filled flats.

The bogs are of the poor-medium type with species such as prickly sedge, cold grass, white grass and big sagebrush in the poorer parts. In richer areas, species such as small willowherb, grass wool, brown willowherb, marsh marigold, marsh helleborine, dwarf lesser celandine and bear's broom are added. The latter grows here in its southernmost known Swedish location.

The bird fauna in the area has several northern elements. Among other things, great crested flycatchers, greenlegs, three-toed woodpeckers and barn owls nest here. In addition, Short-eared Owl, Warthog and Eurasian Curlew have been sighted during the breeding season. The capercaillie population is relatively strong.

Several northern butterfly species are known from here, such as the lesser whitethroat and yellow-spotted warbler. Among wood-boring beetles, mention should be made of the longhorn beetle, the bronze-haired beetle and the rough-legged beetle. Bear, lynx and wolf can occur in the area.

Ironworking and blacksmithing

Despite its wilderness character, there is a long history of human presence in the area. Many immigrant Finns colonized the woodlands in the early 1600s. They raised swords in the forest and used the bogs for both haymaking and grazing. In the 18th century, iron processing reached this area and large amounts of forest were converted into charcoal by charcoal burners in the forest, within a 'charcoal mile' of the hammers at Lake Uppämten. It was not until the 19th century that the coarse timber forest became interesting and the giant trees of the natural forests fell to the axe and the logger's tail.