On Tuesday, we celebrated the summer solstice with gratitude and happiness for the miracles that took place. Naturarvet signed a contract for an 11.5 ha extension of the protected area on Gräsö towards Blågrundsfjärden - Tjoho❣️At the same time, Naturarvet received acceptance of a 264 ha property with mainly old protected mountainous forest at Stora Blåsjön, Strömsund, Jämtland - TJOHOSAN❣️❣️
Natural Heritage's volunteer coach and life partner, Ywonne, couldn't sit still and was bouncing around with excitement as two separate conversations tied up our hard work over the past few months in a single morning.
We can now announce that Naturarvet just before that in June signed a contract for 45 ha old-growth forest (Fågelskärsudden) next to Svartsundets old-growth forest on Gräsö, Tjoohooo❣️This means that we now expand the protected area on Gräsö from 32 ha to a total of 88 ha through two new acquisitions.
Naturarvet thus currently has contracts in four areas, just as we dreamed of last spring. Celebrate with us by
Elveskogen in Norway is only 5 miles away from the forest at Stora Blåsjön. To complete the acquisition of both these forests would be fantastic. It creates a link across the border between two forests with similar biology and a real chance for species to spread.
By way of representation, Naturarvet appealed against the decision of the municipality of Lierne not to grant consents. Now our appeal goes to the State Administrator. We keep the dream alive.
Naturarvet now lacks about 1.5 million to finance all acquisitions. It is therefore important that donations continue to flow in. There are so many more forests waiting to be added to Naturarvet, so already this year we should also have built up the effort to enable the acquisition of more forests.
Your gifts are vital to all life on earth. You make it possible for endangered species to be protected and ensure the protection of our most efficient carbon sinks - the old-growth forests. Svartsundet-The old-growth forests of Birdskärsudden and Stora Blåsjö can store 800 tonnes of CO2 annually, which is equivalent to 90 Swedes' average consumption-based CO2 footprint to the atmosphere.
We (me, Lo, the only employee at Naturarvet) will post forest plots on the new areas. However, there will be some collection maps, image editing, additional documentation in the field, etc. so be patient. In the meantime, make sure to become forest patron. The forest sponsors are now 675 forest lovers strong. "We'll be able to get to a thousand before the winter solstice is here", says Ywonne 👥➕💰💚🌳🍄🌲
Happy Midsummer from Lo and Ywonne 🌸💐🌞🇸🇪
Naturarvet