Damage in nature reserves has increased in recent years – this is now reported by several county administrations in a survey carried out by TV4 Nyheterna.
Öland is one of the areas hit hard.
– A very boring development, says Martin Unell head of enchet nature protection Kalmar County Administrative Board.
In the Strandhagen nature reserve in southern Öland, 300 holes were found in the hill where they suspect that the protected spring adonis was dug up during the Easter weekend. The case has been reported to the police as a suspected species protection crime and it is not the only case that Kalmar has suffered in recent years.
– There is a trend where we see more and more crimes being committed in our nature reserves. It can be species that are dug up or insects that are caught, bird eggs that are picked and fossils that are carved, says Martin Unell.
Off-road driving
Open burning
Impact on signs
Similar trend
Several county administrative boards, such as Örebro, Norrbotten, Halland and Dalarna, report on a similar trend, a survey carried out by Nyheterna shows. In Brå’s figures, the statistics for vandalism against the state, municipality and county council have nearly tripled in ten years, but the criminal code also includes, for example, bus stops, schools and hospitals, and it is unclear how much nature reserves account for.
– We really need to preserve the diversity we have, says Martin Unell. Many misdemeanors may happen out of sheer ignorance or the visitors not reading up on what applies in the nature reserve – but those who take these unusual species are probably part of a larger network where you resell what you have taken.