SummaryNatural and cultural heritage
Photo: Kristianstads Vattenrike has great biological and cultural values.
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) / Lillö Castle / Forsakar by Degaberga / River Pearl Mussles
(Margaritifera margaritifera)
Photo Patrik Olofsson and Sven-Erik Magnusson
""How many Swedes realise that the last 30 km of the lower reaches of the River Helgeån, which include the lakes Araslövssjön, Hammarsjön, Egeside sjö and Yngsjön, evoke an openness, sanctuary and life in an area of countryside whose expressiveness cannot be found anywhere else in our country? There is a magnitude in this Water Kingdom which brings peace to the soul. This is southern Sweden, a flat valley bottom extending for miles and miles in a luxuriant verdure of pastures, marshy meadows, reeds and bushes." " Carl Fries 1958
The area is a kingdom of water, a cultural landscape where the flora and fauna of the former farmlands can still be found. It is considered to be a wetland area of such value that Sweden has taken special international steps to preserve it (through the Ramsar Convention of wetlands).
Its natural values are dependent on cultivation, i.e. grazing and hay-making, and on the annual floods. Here lies the country's largest area of inland lakeside meadows, more than 1700 hectares in total. The annual water-level variation is approximately 1.4m (4,5 feet) as the Helgeån passes through Kristianstad. It is this almost natural variation in the water-level and man's almost unbroken utilisation of the meadows for grazing and hay-making which provides conditions which make the area into one of great natural and cultural-historical value.
 Natural- and cultural values in Kristianstads Vattenrike |
Read more about the birds, fish, plants and cultural values in Vattenriket |
| Habitats |
Photos and short descriptions of the main habitats. Only in swedish |
| Cranes in Kristianstads Vattenrike |
Thousands of cranes take a stopover in the area each spring.  (194 kB) |
| Birds i Kristianstads Vattenrike |
Only in swedish |
| The white stork i Kristianstads Vattenrike |
Only in swedish |
| Fish in Kristianstads Vattenrike |
Only in swedish |
