Märlingsberget

The Märlingsberget Conservation Park comprises slightly more than 2,000 hectares and it lies in the Municipality of Bräcke in south-eastern Jämtland. The park mainly contains pine forest and numerous small lakes, bogs and streams. There are many hiking trails, beautiful view-point and traces of those who once used the forest for its living.

It has relatively large, unspoiled areas that have remained uncultivated since the mid-19th century when the most recent major forest fires took place. The main reason that the forests have not been cultivated is the inaccessible nature of the area, with terrain that is hilly in many places, full of boulders and difficult to penetrate. In addition, the landscape is broken up by numerous small lakes, bogs and streams.

Old pine trees

The park mainly contains pine forest, most of which still bare the marks of the many forest fires that have occurred in the area. Dead pine wood is in abundance, meaning that many unusual wood-decay fungi and insects thrive in this area. Very old pine trees are also dotted throughout the park. In several places, there are trees that are more than 300 years old. The park also has broadleaf-dominated areas, for example, a post-fire forest stand which grew after the forest fire of 1966.

The park will border a nature reserve that the Jämtland County Administrative Board will establish in the region around Stuguåberget and Märlingsberget.

SCA will carry out a variety of activities in the park to benefit existing nature conservation values and to create new values. For example, we will perform controlled nature conservation burning in selected areas to imitate the damage sustained by trees after a fire. In doing so, we will help species that depend on fire to survive.

In efforts to create dead wood, which is in short supply in today's forests, our measures will include stripping bark from trees to accelerate the ageing processes. We also promote growth in hardwood forests by felling softwood trees and, for example, creating sunny avenues along forest roads where deciduous trees can stand freely in the sun.

Good shoes, a map and compass are recommended for hiking in the park. However, SCA has prepared a couple of well-prepared hiking trails in the park, for example, at Öster-Märlingen, which is also suitable for families with children. At Lake Sidsjön, SCA has arranged picnic areas with fireplaces and benches, similar to the set-up in Öster-Märlingen.

Many animals live in the park, and visitors can see birds including grey-headed woodpeckers, black-throated loons and red-throated loons, as well as otters and wolverines.