Ann Murugan (then called Rask) and Jenny Strand from Luleå returned to Sweden after a few years of study abroad and saw how their beloved natural forests, which they had ridden through as teenagers, had disappeared one by one to be replaced by forest plantations. They had experienced abroad how poor a country can be if its native nature is over-exploited and they decided to do something to save the shrinking old-growth forests that were still left. Ann and Jenny started "A Click for the Forest" and together with Anna-Karin Grennvall they formed the first board.
In 2006, the Foundation was able to acquire its first forest, the Ännamus Forest, which was thus protected for all time. Three years later, the second forest acquisition, Verles old-growth forest, was completed and the Foundation was still run largely on a voluntary basis by Ann, Jenny, Anna-Karin and a handful of volunteers. In 2010, an executive director was hired and in January 2011, the Foundation changed its name to Naturarvet, as more ways to raise funds had been added and to better demonstrate the permanent protection created for the purchased forests.