Sweden plateau restored from grazing to vast protected forest

Sweden's Söderåsen plateau, once extensively cleared for grazing, is now one of northern Europe's largest protected broadleaf forests. A 2025 study in The Holocene shows the landscape became much more open during the 18th and 19th centuries due to intensified grazing and burning. Today, Söderåsen National Park protects 1,625 hectares of deciduous woodland, with beech, oak, alder, and birch dominating the area.

The national park was formally established on May 10, 2001, in Skåne County, covering parts of Klippan and Svalöv municipalities. The park preserves a large continuous section of the South Swedish horst landscape, including the Skäralid valley and Lake Odensjön. Länsstyrelsen Skåne manages the area on behalf of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

The transformation demonstrates how landscapes can change rapidly when land use shifts and natural regeneration occurs. The park's woodland now supports diverse plants, fungi, insects, and birds, with fallen trees providing critical habitat. The study examined sediment from Lake Odensjön to reconstruct 600 years of forest development and land-use history on the plateau.