The overriding aim of the project is to improve the habitats of wetland birds in Askö-Tidö. To achieve this the reedbed and wet-meadow area is to be restored and measures are to be taken to reduce the nutrient load on the bay. The project also seeks to improve accessibility for visitors.

To read more about the various measures, click on the headings below.

Restoration of reedbeds and wet meadows

Improvement and enlargement of the footpath systems

Machine development

Collaboration to reduce eutrophication of the bay

Restoration of reedbeds and wet meadows

The maps show what Asköviken looks like today and how we want it to look when the project is over.

Asköviken before the LIFE project

The reedbed is homogenous and has virtually no irregular fringes. There are only a small number of open water areas within the reed belt. Some wet meadows have become overgrown due to insufficient grazing or mowing.

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Asköviken after the LIFE project

The reed belt has a mosaic structure and irregular fringes. The large reed areas have open water and channels. The entire bay is surrounded by wet meadows that are mowed and/or grazed. There is an area of shallow water between the reed belt and the wet meadows. These shallows are an ideal feeding ground for many waders and swimming ducks.

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Reedbeds

Several different methods are to be used to create a more heterogeneous reedbed. The reeds in the fringe zone towards the water are to be cut below the waterline to increase the indentation and the matted roots are to be lifted clear so as to create small open water surfaces in the reedbed.

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Re-creation of blue border

Shallow waters rich in vegetation between the wet meadows and the reedbed (the so-called blue border) are valuable foraging grounds for many wetland birds. A blue border is normally maintained by animals that go grazing in the wet areas next to the reeds. In the accumulations of shallow water thus formed, the production of insects and many-seeded wetland plants is high. There used to be a blue border along the whole shoreline in Asköviken, but today this important environment is missing in the area. The regulation of Lake Mälaren, reduced grazing on the wet meadows and a high influx of nutrients have left the blue border overgrown.

Within the LIFE project we seek to re-create a blue border in Asköviken. Land studies show that the best method to bring about a blue border in the area is to press down the matted roots by machine in combination with the harvesting and removal of vegetation. At present there is no machine that meets the requirements we lay down for the care of the blue border. As part of the project, therefore, we intend to develop a new type of machine for wetland mowing (see machine development).

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Wet meadows

Parts of Asköviken's wet meadows are threatened by overgrowth because upkeep is either largely inadequate or completely absent. In the course of the project we shall restore a good 30 ha of wet meadows to a state that will allow them to be kept up by grazing or by mowing.

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Improvement and enlargement of the pathway system

Besides the restoration jobs the project includes the enlargement and improvement of the pathway system. At present the western part of the area is inaccessible to visitors and a connection is missing between the paths in the northern part of the area and the path system in the southern part.

The pathway system is to be enlarged to give the area a coherent system of rambling routes stretching all round the bay. New hides will be constructed, and parts of the pathway system will be upgraded to make them easily negotiable with a pram or in a wheelchair.

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Machine development

To protect the wet meadows round Asköviken from becoming overgrown they are currently being kept up by mowing or by grazing. Mowing involves the harvesting of the vegetation on the wet meadows. In times past it was harvested with the scythe; nowadays mowing machines are used. The ground in parts of the wet meadows round Asköviken offers such poor support that they are difficult to manage with the methods available today. The grazing animals cannot walk there and ordinary mowing machines are unable to get along. Accordingly, we shall, as part of the project, develop a new type of mowing machine that can harvest the vegetation in the wettest parts of these meadows and transport the material up to firmer ground.

The machine is being developed in collaboration with representatives of Lake Hornborgasjön, Lake Tåkern, the Water Realm at Kristianstad and HagmarksMISTRA.

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Collaboration to reduce eutrophication of the bay

One of the greatest threats to Asköviken is eutrophication, meaning the high influx of nutrients to the bay. Large quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus are brought in from nearby areas, most notably by way of the Asköbäcken stream, which debouches into the north-western part of the bay

Certain measures have already been undertaken to reduce the leakage of nutrients to the bay. As part of the Asköbäcken project, an LIP project on which work commenced in 2000, a dam and a number of ditches have been constructed to route the stream water out onto the wet meadows. Many farmers have also taken part in the work by constructing protective zones between the arable land and the stream, i.e. zones with permanent plant coverage where the soil is never ploughed. A protective zone serves to reduce the erosion and to cut down the leakage of nutrients to the watercourse.

Within the LIFE project we are working to encourage farmers, owners of private drains and others who have an influence on the water quality in Asköviken to endeavour to bring down the influx of nutrients to the bay.

Together with the County Administrative Board, the Federation of Swedish Farmers, referred to in the following by its Swedish initials as the LRF, is conducting a collaboration with farmers in the catchment area to reduce the leakage of nutrients from agricultural land. The bulk of this work will be done within the framework of Greppa Näringen, a competence and counselling project seeking to support the farmers with knowledge and tools so as to bring down the nitrogen and phosphorus losses in a cost-effective manner.

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