Idön Nature Reserve

At Idön Nature Reserve you can take a step back in time to a traditional archipelago landscape. At the southern tip of Gräsön, you’ll find a mix of old forests, open meadows, and pastures.

This area gives you a glimpse of how people in the archipelago used to live and work. Long ago, everything in nature was used wisely: leaves from trees were collected for animal feed, hay was cut from the meadows, crops were grown in fields, and animals grazed in the woods. You can still see signs of this life today — like old twisted trees, thick branches, and the scent of wild herbs in the air.

The soil is rich in lime, which contributes to a high diversity of flowering herbs. In spring, the ground is full of blue liverleaf. In summer, you might spot orchids or other plants like small enchanter's nightshade, wood sanicle, and baneberry — all indicating forests whith high conservation value.

The forest has many small glades and trees of different ages. It has kept much of its old look because people once only cut a few trees at a time — a method called selective logging. Today, both young and old trees grow here, along with fallen trunks and dead wood, giving the forest a wild, natural feel. In some areas, animals now graze again to help keep the land open.

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