Sandemar Nature Reserve ( sv, Sandemars naturreservat) is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

in Sweden. The nature reserve lies close to Sandemar Castle and the landscape is characterised by having been part of the manorial estate for a long time. The area is considered to be one of the foremost examples in Stockholm County of such a landscape. It includes

coastal meadow Coastal meadows are Meadow, meadows in the coastal zone, influenced by the sea. Under this definition, the salinity of the air and wind is usually high and the flora is dominated by salt-tolerant species. Some coastal meadows may be flooded by s ...

s rich in bird-life and a rich fen situated in the eastern part of the reserve. The fen is regularly tended to in order to preserve its special flora and fauna, which includes

early marsh orchid ''Dactylorhiza incarnata'', the early marsh-orchid, is a perennial, temperate-climate species of orchid generally found growing in wet meadows, and generally on base-rich soils, up to about 2100m asl. The species occurs widely in Europe and Asia ...

, fen orchid,

marsh helleborine ''Epipactis palustris'', the marsh helleborine, is a species of orchid native to Europe and Asia. Description ''Epipactis palustris'' is a perennial herbaceous plant. This species has a stem growing to 60 cm high with as many as ten ere ...

and the carnivorous

common butterwort ''Pinguicula vulgaris'', the common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the bladderwort family, Lentibulariaceae. Description It grows to a height of 3–16 cm, and is topped with a purple, and occasionally white, flower that is ...

. The coastal meadows contain stands of elder-flowered orchid and ''

Fritillaria meleagris ''Fritillaria meleagris'' is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. Its common names include snake's head fritillary, snake's head (the original English name), chess flower, frog-cup, guinea-hen flower, guinea flower, ...

'', and the flat meadows and shallow water is also an important habitat for birds. For the convenience of visitors, a bird watching tower has been built not far from the water's edge. The nature reserve is part of the EU-wide

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

-network.

Gallery

File:Sandemar Naturreservat 2012.jpg, Entrance to the nature reserve File:Sandemar Naturreservat 2012a.jpg, Bird-watching tower File:Sandemar fågelseservat 2012b.jpg, Coastal meadow in the nature reserve, with

Dalarö Fortress Dalarö fortress is a fortification located just south of Dalarö. The current structure was built by Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1656. History It was built to replace an old structure from 1623. In 1683 the fortress was renovated by Erik Dahl ...

in the background

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Sandemar Nature Reserve Nature reserves in Sweden Natura 2000 in Sweden Geography of Stockholm County Tourist attractions in Stockholm County Protected areas established in 1997 1997 establishments in Sweden