Svenska Högarna – Sweden's largest marine nature reserve

To protect the wildlife, the island group Svenska Högarna, at the far eastern end of the Stockholm archipelago, will now be Sweden's largest marine reserve. Around the islands, there is rich marine wildlife and on the seabed a healthy ecosystem with mussels, seaweed, and algae belts.

But it is still powered by fossil fuel only! That is why we are engaged. Read more here!

The iconic Svenska Högarna lighthouse from 1874. I windsurfed out to this island and started an action group to fight the use of fossil fuels as the only source for generating electricity on the island. See more here.

It has been a nature reserve since 1976 and is now being expanded with a large sea area. The archipelago and surrounding sea area contain rich wildlife. According to the County Administrative Board's decision, the size of the reserve is now expanding from just under 3,000 hectares to 61,000 hectares and extends 30 km northeast of the archipelago, past the island Svenska Björn nature reserve.

– Some seabirds and gray seals need to be protected from increasing outdoor life, especially at nesting sites and where the seals shed their fur. The seals' fur care is dependent on the skin being kept warm on land. If they are constantly frightened in the water, the fur sewing drags out the time, which eats away at the energy reserves and can cause problems with the fur, says Urban Pettersson at the County Administrative Board.

Excerpts from Swedish Television News Full story (in Swedish)