Fjärestad-Gantofta

Welcome to Fjärestad-Gantofta Nature Reserve

For thousands of years, the River Råån has worn its way through layers of moraine and bedrock of sandstone and shale. Our forefathers settled in the fertile landscape around the river, as early as the Stone Age. Remains have been found in the form of pieces of skeleton, flint tools and pieces of amber in the passage tomb to the east of Gantofta. Another thing our forefathers took with them to the grave – the secret surrounding the sharpening grooves. It still remains a mystery, as to how these strange markings in the sandstone by the river were formed.

The woodlands along the shore of the river are lush and dense with bushes. In the spring, lesser celandine and wood anemone make the ground shimmer in yellow and white. The air is filled with birdsong – everything from the advanced serenades of the icterine warbler and nightingale, to the simple chiff-chaff song of the chiffchaff. Decaying and hollow trees provide homes for woodpeckers and other hole-nesting birds such as nuthatches and great tits.

There is a rich wildlife in the streaming, clear water. There are many different species of fish and in the autumn, brown trout migrate in from the sea and spawn in the river. There are lots of insects as well, something that makes the grey wagtail happy when it is searching for food.

Regulations

Within Fjärestad-Gantofta Nature Reserve it is forbidden to:

• intentionally disturb wildlife or grazing animals,
  
• damage living or dead trees and bushes or any other vegetation, or remove dead wood,
  
• bring dogs not on a lead, other than when hunting,
  
• cycle or drive any other vehicle, or ride other than on the roads,
  
• park up caravans or camper vans or equivalent,
  
• camp for more than one night,
  
• light a fire or use a disposable barbeque,
  
• introduce foreign (for the site) plant or animal species,
  
• undertake scientific research which involves taking samples or the installation
  of equipment,
  
• use the site for competitions, exercises, camps or any other activity which may disturb
  the natural environment or recreation,
  
• use radios, musical instruments or any other sound systems in a way that is disturbing,
  
• dig, bore, paint or in any other way damaged natural objects or formations,
  
• erect any kind of installation or put out any foreign (for the nature reserve) objects,
  
• put up signs, posters, plaques, inscriptions, or any other equivalent items, with the
  exception of boundary markers and nature reserve signs.
  
  Without permission from the County Administrative Board it is also
  forbidden to:
• trap and take away animals from the nature reserve, collect in insects or other animals
  with traps which result in death, or in any other way injure wildlife,
  
• collect wood-living fungi,
  
• put out geocaches.