Exploring Sweden’s Ancient Woodland: A Family Van Life Adventure 🌲🚐

[@segment932]

Had to check it up but you are correct. The white line with a with a white star atop at 3:12 is the beginning of the nature reserve. I did not know that and I have lived in Sweden for my entire life. 😅

[@livingthelifeportugal]

😂😂 We just guessed by how the trees changed

[@kjelljohansson1799]

Think if more parents did what you do and show and let their kids learning of things i bee so impressed of you and you let the kids decide the tempo😊.i have been doing this with my kids long ago . And we hike in the mountins fishing with my oldest daughter when she was only three and a half years old, she had own backpack and no problem. Think there is kids thinking milk just come from cardboard boxes like in the store. Its sad.😢

[@livingthelifeportugal]

We totally changed directon in life when Lawrie was born to be able to spend as much time with him as possible. Then Wilfred came along we decided to buy a motorhome to be able to explore and have more adventures! It's another reason why we love being based in Portugal! It's such a safe place for children to grow up ❤️🇵🇹

[@totobeni]

exitement over the possibility to meet a bear only lasts untill you meet a bear.

[@livingthelifeportugal]

😂😂😂😂

[@Stonecrime]

nice to follow you guys on your adventures. You should go and explore Northeastern swedish coast aswell. See the High coast and the Northern archipelagos. It's really beautiful.

[@livingthelifeportugal]

We went there in 2018 but didn't have time this trip! But don't worry we will be back to Sweden 🇸🇪❤️

[@PerLagerback-qx3nc]

There are a lot of places/spaces like that around in Sweden.

[@livingthelifeportugal]

Apparently less than 9% of all of Swedens forest is protected and not many as much as this one

[@erikstenviken2652]

⁠@@livingthelifeportugalthere are alot of them. And 9% is alot in a big country.

[@frankkrunk]

3:35, Now hang on a minute. This is a nature reserve which can not be touched, but it's not like the entire rest of Sweden is a sterile tree farm. There are 85000 hectares of "urskog", not 15. Just because an area has had trees cut down at some point during the past 2000 years doesn't mean that it's in any way unnatural. 25% of the forests in Sweden are "naturskog", meaning it has been untouched for 150 years and has the same type of vegetation as "urskog". You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two just from looking at them. Most of the ancient forests were cleared by bronze age farmers through slash and burn agriculture. Blame them, not modern forestry. Pine can live for up to 800 years, and spruce for ~400 years. A dead pine can stand for 100 years, and once it falls over it will decay over 100 years. Spruce is a lot less resistant. They are soft woods, so they decay pretty fast. "Everything else is monoculture" is not true. If anything, conifers such as spruce trees left unchecked will turn the ground acidic, grow taller and denser and soak up all the sunlight, and outcompete all other trees. Just look around you where you are! See any birches? They only grow around the road and the rest area where humans have made a clearing. Every species in nature is trying to propagate itself at the expense of others.

[@livingthelifeportugal]

Every day is a school day! Have you seen this? www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/environment/land-use/formally-protected-forest-land-voluntary-set-asides-consideration-patches-and-unproductive-forest-land/pong/statistical-news/formally-protected-forest-land-voluntary-set-asides-consideration-patches-and-unproductive-forest-land-2023/?

[@usefulcommunication4516]

Just to put that in perspective, 85,000 hectares of urskog (ancient forest I guess) equates to 0.2% of total forest. Which, quite frankly, isn't much. And the percentage of naturskog is nowhere near 25%. It's closer to 8%. And most of it is way up in the northwest where it's just too difficult to mess up. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, us Swedes don't do well with nature. We have this strange desire to conquer and control it. And when we do, we more often than not make a mess of it (see Malmberget). Must do better.

[@livingthelifeportugal]

Even on the sign at the place we visited it says it's VERY rare to find in Sweden. But with that said we still prefer the spruce and pine to the endless Eucalyptus in Portugal

[@birgittae9046]

We have a small Nature reserve in our forest in south east of Jämtland. with untouched trees since the 16th century. And a lot of rare mushrooms. But unfortunately there was a storm in 2012 that cut off the tops of a lot of pines. But as I said, there are nice small nature reserves here and there. In ours, there are signs along the path that tell you what you can see right there. It is the Swedish Forest Agency that offers Forest Owners money not to cut down, when they find untouched forests and rare species.

[@larka742]

Most forest owners have to have areas saved, and designated to keep as it is. It can be like really small areas such as around a little creek to keep frogs habitat. Nothing like that is marked as preserved.

[@jeeriksson]

Lingonberry jam is the best

[@jntd4160]

Those massive ant hills freak me out!😬

[@livingthelifeportugal]

I know right! It makes me itchy just thinking about them 😅

[@gunlindblad6816]

Oh no! They are amazing, as a kid I was always fascinated and could sit for hours just watching them. Hold your hand close and then you can put it on your cheek for some natural blush. Be careful thiugh it stings.

[@jntd4160]

The sunset at the end has to be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen!🏞Leave it to a mosquito to ruin it for you!😤 Love from Michigan!🤟🙏💞

[@livingthelifeportugal]

It was a really special sunset, we absolutely loved it. There's a few more awesome sunsets coming as we travel south to Bornholm! We all got nibbled that evening but it was worth it 😂

[@vadmal5210]

After all, there are quite a few of these small nature reserves around Sweden. Most of them are not marked on maps. Partly to keep them neat and tidy. Some of them are also UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Then you have the National parks, all around the country. The largest of them are in the north west along the border to Norway almost at the same latitude height as Lofoten Norway. Many of the lakes you have been swimming in is actually magazine to the many hydropower plants. Only four of the Swedish rivers are NOT regulated hydropower systems. They are, from N to S, Torneälv (partly border to Finland), Kalixälv, Piteälv and Vindelälv.

[@livingthelifeportugal]

It's a shame it's such a small percentage of places that are left untouched but we felt so grateful to have found this spot an experienced it first hand. It's hard to explain what it's like there even in a video. It's something you just have to experience yourself being in one of these ancient woodlands!

[@vadmal5210]

@@livingthelifeportugal Correct! I have been living in Sveg ... long before Sonfjället was opened with marked trails ...