European Rewilding Network
ERN1905
Rewilding Lankälven
Rewilding the Lankälven river
A view of the restored river Lankälven in Södra Hyttan after the dam was removed.
Helena Backius
Starting by having a dam removed and restoring the breeding habitats for the present trout population, the project aims to eventually allow the protected fresh water pearl mussel to be replanted in Lankälven.
Helena Sandell
A public event with electrical fishing and counting of the fish in the river, made in cooperation with the county government.
John Nyzell
A view of our house made of Bergslags-slag which will house our open air exhibition portraying the life in the river Lankälven.
Helena Backius
Gravel beds have been added as spawning habitat for trout, while rocks and small boulders have also been returned to create habitat where for trout can thrive.
Rewilding Lankälven
The removed dam on the River Lankälven first constructed in 1683 and rebuilt in the 1970s, has prevented trout from moving upstream beyond the village of Södra Hyttan.
Rewilding Lankälven
The Rewilding Lankälven project kicked off in 2017 with the removal of the dam by the river Lankälven. Since then, gravel beds have been added as spawning habitat for trout, while rocks and small boulders have also been returned to create habitat where for trout can thrive (trout eat several aquatic and terrestrial insects, other fish, crustaceans, leeches and worms).
The eventual aim is to replant a population of freshwater pearl mussels in the Lankälven. But before this can happen the ecosystem has to rebalance itself after the restoration efforts, and the river’s trout population has to start swimming upstream (the mussels depend on trout for part of their lifecycle).
To complement rewilding efforts, the Rewilding Lankälven project is also developing a nature centre in Södra Hyttan to introduce people to the area’s wild nature. We call it Naturstation Södra Hyttan. The centre, is a hub for natural and cultural experiences, and is hosting workshops, volunteering camps, tourists and presentations.
Project:
Rewilding Lankälven
Region:
Lankälven in Södra Hyttan, Sweden
Type of project:
Creating space for wilder nature, Increasing interest in the wild through communications
Aim and vision:
Our aim is to make Lankälven wild again. Thereby allowing its natural inhabitants to flourish. By working with Lankälven, we aim to make sure that the whole area will be kept in conditions that allow for the river to live naturally and to be part of a functioning ecosystem. Our work with Lankälven started by removing a dam, and this was also our first step in creating visitor centre Naturstation Södra Hyttan. We want to help nature, but also show what nature is and what you can find once you look. By being the interpreters, we believe that a greater audience will start to appreciate and care for nature.
Our vision is to have Lankälven restored so that the river can create an appropriate and sustainable ecosystem, where the replanted freshwater pearl mussel will thrive. This will allow for a more dynamic and resistant river that hopefully results in more restoration work along its path. With the possibility of the trout to swim to its old breeding and playing habitats hopefully the population will grow, and ecotourism can start to reap the benefits of functioning ecosystems, allowing the local population in our rural countryside to live and create meaningful lives in close contact with, supporting and supported by, nature.
Uniqueness of the project:
We have in close proximity to Lankälven and on an island in Lankälven a cultural centre, with Scandinavia's biggest second-hand bookshop and our visitors garden called Södra Hyttans Bergslagsträdgård (2025). The latter hosting and thereby preserving local wild threatened and old cultural species. We also do applied research on bats in historic industrial environments like our own historical site where we are based. We are also working with veteranisation of trees in the area to create habitats for bats and other tree dwelling species. With all this we are creating a unique way to present nature to people who otherwise perhaps would not seek it and wouldn’t understand nor care.
Other activities:
Community involved, Eco tourism, Education, High-impact communications, Recreational activities, Research, Restoring meadows, Sale of sustainable products
Results you aim to accomplish in 10 years from now on:
Thriving population of trout and mussels in Lankälven, a blue/green corridor between our already existing nature reserves and the forests alongside Lankälven, a visitor center merging art and science and becoming a place of resilience, sustainability and interpretation (opened 2025).
Results so far:
Our first stepping stone has been the removal of the dam (2017). We have organized multiple volunteer camp for the restoration of the river (2019 still ongoing 2026), and through working with volunteers we are raising awareness of the issue of the mussels and giving those people a bodily experience as to what the issue actually is. We have been granted money by the county council to continue with our project (latest funding 2026), for the use of machines to restore inaccessible sites in the river. We have an ongoing study circle (2026) where artists are creating and developing an exhibition portraying the life in and above the river Lankälven. We collaborate with the national centre for nature interpretation (Centrum för Naturvägledning) and Interpret Europe to further advance how to communicate about nature.
Inspirational value:
When digging deep, you can find treasures in even the driest scientific reports. But who will read it? As a nature/cultural heritage guide you can explain new information in an understandable way, and if you can communicate well, your audience will learn, engage, and quickly start to care for your cause. Often tiny details make life more vivid, thereby furthering our cause.
Experience you would like to share:
We have experience and knowledge in communicating and education about natural and cultural heritage through the method Interpretation. This is a structured, non-formal educational approach that connects natural and cultural heritage sites to visitors through first-hand experiences, fostering deeper meaning and mindfulness regarding shared European values. It moves beyond mere facts to encourage personal, emotional, and intellectual connections.
We work with guided tours, popular education, artistic expression - as an example with our Lankälvskatedralen (Cathedral of Lankälven). We enjoy creative workshops, co-creating with participants and encourage active contribution and participation in rewilding. We currently work mainly with fresh water pedagogy and grassland conservation management.
We teach courses in interpretation, guiding skills and artistic interpretation of the nature we work with.
We are also a centre for interpretation with one of our team being the Swedish coordinator for Interpret Europe.
We work with guided tours, popular education, artistic expression - as an example with our Lankälvskatedralen (Cathedral of Lankälven). We enjoy creative workshops, co-creating with participants and encourage active contribution and participation in rewilding. We currently work mainly with fresh water pedagogy and grassland conservation management.
We teach courses in interpretation, guiding skills and artistic interpretation of the nature we work with.
We are also a centre for interpretation with one of our team being the Swedish coordinator for Interpret Europe.
Experience you would like to gain:
How to communicate to/with a greater audience, how to find funding for bigger projects. Learning from others who have more experience in these kinds of projects, dealing with politicians, how to get support from scientists and how to become a targeted place/project of study. In sum: we want to learn from those who have done this before so that we can rewild more areas and continue doing what we have started.
Country
Sweden
Start year
2017
Size (ha)
5000
Area type
Freshwater lakes, Northern coniferous forest, River, Wetlands
Natural process
Flooding, River dynamics
Flagship species
Beaver, Otter, Trout
A view of the restored river Lankälven in Södra Hyttan after the dam was removed.
Helena Backius
Starting by having a dam removed and restoring the breeding habitats for the present trout population, the project aims to eventually allow the protected fresh water pearl mussel to be replanted in Lankälven.
Helena Sandell
A public event with electrical fishing and counting of the fish in the river, made in cooperation with the county government.
John Nyzell
A view of our house made of Bergslags-slag which will house our open air exhibition portraying the life in the river Lankälven.
Helena Backius
Gravel beds have been added as spawning habitat for trout, while rocks and small boulders have also been returned to create habitat where for trout can thrive.
Rewilding Lankälven
The removed dam on the River Lankälven first constructed in 1683 and rebuilt in the 1970s, has prevented trout from moving upstream beyond the village of Södra Hyttan.
Rewilding Lankälven
The Rewilding Lankälven project kicked off in 2017 with the removal of the dam by the river Lankälven. Since then, gravel beds have been added as spawning habitat for trout, while rocks and small boulders have also been returned to create habitat where for trout can thrive (trout eat several aquatic and terrestrial insects, other fish, crustaceans, leeches and worms).
The eventual aim is to replant a population of freshwater pearl mussels in the Lankälven. But before this can happen the ecosystem has to rebalance itself after the restoration efforts, and the river’s trout population has to start swimming upstream (the mussels depend on trout for part of their lifecycle).
To complement rewilding efforts, the Rewilding Lankälven project is also developing a nature centre in Södra Hyttan to introduce people to the area’s wild nature. We call it Naturstation Södra Hyttan. The centre, is a hub for natural and cultural experiences, and is hosting workshops, volunteering camps, tourists and presentations.
Country
Sweden
Start year
2017
Size (ha)
5000
Area type
Freshwater lakes, Northern coniferous forest, River, Wetlands
Natural process
Flooding, River dynamics
Flagship species
Beaver, Otter, Trout
Specification
Project:
Rewilding Lankälven
Region:
Lankälven in Södra Hyttan, Sweden
Description
Type of project:
Creating space for wilder nature, Increasing interest in the wild through communications
Aim and vision:
Our aim is to make Lankälven wild again. Thereby allowing its natural inhabitants to flourish. By working with Lankälven, we aim to make sure that the whole area will be kept in conditions that allow for the river to live naturally and to be part of a functioning ecosystem. Our work with Lankälven started by removing a dam, and this was also our first step in creating visitor centre Naturstation Södra Hyttan. We want to help nature, but also show what nature is and what you can find once you look. By being the interpreters, we believe that a greater audience will start to appreciate and care for nature.
Our vision is to have Lankälven restored so that the river can create an appropriate and sustainable ecosystem, where the replanted freshwater pearl mussel will thrive. This will allow for a more dynamic and resistant river that hopefully results in more restoration work along its path. With the possibility of the trout to swim to its old breeding and playing habitats hopefully the population will grow, and ecotourism can start to reap the benefits of functioning ecosystems, allowing the local population in our rural countryside to live and create meaningful lives in close contact with, supporting and supported by, nature.
Uniqueness of the project:
We have in close proximity to Lankälven and on an island in Lankälven a cultural centre, with Scandinavia's biggest second-hand bookshop and our visitors garden called Södra Hyttans Bergslagsträdgård (2025). The latter hosting and thereby preserving local wild threatened and old cultural species. We also do applied research on bats in historic industrial environments like our own historical site where we are based. We are also working with veteranisation of trees in the area to create habitats for bats and other tree dwelling species. With all this we are creating a unique way to present nature to people who otherwise perhaps would not seek it and wouldn’t understand nor care.
Other activities:
Community involved, Eco tourism, Education, High-impact communications, Recreational activities, Research, Restoring meadows, Sale of sustainable products
Achievements
Results you aim to accomplish in 10 years from now on:
Thriving population of trout and mussels in Lankälven, a blue/green corridor between our already existing nature reserves and the forests alongside Lankälven, a visitor center merging art and science and becoming a place of resilience, sustainability and interpretation (opened 2025).
Results so far:
Our first stepping stone has been the removal of the dam (2017). We have organized multiple volunteer camp for the restoration of the river (2019 still ongoing 2026), and through working with volunteers we are raising awareness of the issue of the mussels and giving those people a bodily experience as to what the issue actually is. We have been granted money by the county council to continue with our project (latest funding 2026), for the use of machines to restore inaccessible sites in the river. We have an ongoing study circle (2026) where artists are creating and developing an exhibition portraying the life in and above the river Lankälven. We collaborate with the national centre for nature interpretation (Centrum för Naturvägledning) and Interpret Europe to further advance how to communicate about nature.
Exchange
Inspirational value:
When digging deep, you can find treasures in even the driest scientific reports. But who will read it? As a nature/cultural heritage guide you can explain new information in an understandable way, and if you can communicate well, your audience will learn, engage, and quickly start to care for your cause. Often tiny details make life more vivid, thereby furthering our cause.
Experience you would like to share:
We have experience and knowledge in communicating and education about natural and cultural heritage through the method Interpretation. This is a structured, non-formal educational approach that connects natural and cultural heritage sites to visitors through first-hand experiences, fostering deeper meaning and mindfulness regarding shared European values. It moves beyond mere facts to encourage personal, emotional, and intellectual connections.<br />
<br />
We work with guided tours, popular education, artistic expression - as an example with our Lankälvskatedralen (Cathedral of Lankälven). We enjoy creative workshops, co-creating with participants and encourage active contribution and participation in rewilding. We currently work mainly with fresh water pedagogy and grassland conservation management.<br />
<br />
We teach courses in interpretation, guiding skills and artistic interpretation of the nature we work with.<br />
<br />
We are also a centre for interpretation with one of our team being the Swedish coordinator for Interpret Europe.
Experience you would like to gain:
How to communicate to/with a greater audience, how to find funding for bigger projects. Learning from others who have more experience in these kinds of projects, dealing with politicians, how to get support from scientists and how to become a targeted place/project of study. In sum: we want to learn from those who have done this before so that we can rewild more areas and continue doing what we have started.
