Save the Immeln

The project aims to restore and improve water quality and reduce browning in Lake Immeln's largest tributary, the Ekeshultsån. Measures will be taken from source to mouth with the goal of bringing fish up to Lönsboda and seeing otters playing on the shore.

Immeln is a lake in Kristianstad municipality, Olofström municipality, Osby municipality and Östra Göinge municipality. Immeln is part of the main catchment area of the Skräbeån and is Skåne's third largest lake with an area of 22.4 square kilometers. The measures are being implemented in the Ekeshultsån which flows through Lönsboda which belongs to Osby and Östra Göinge municipalities. The geographical area affected by the Save Immeln project is thus large and extends across several municipal borders. 

In 2010, Naturvårdsingenjörnerna AB conducted a feasibility study on the restoration of the Ekeshultsån, funded by Leader Skånes Ess. This resulted in proposing a number of measures over the long term to achieve a long-term sustainable restoration of the Ekeshultsån, which is an important part of preserving Lake Immeln. With this as a starting point, the project Rädda Immeln has been started with Östra Göinge Municipality as the principal. The project is a long-term project with a project period of 10 years.

Several measures have thus already been implemented, including the construction of a viewing route, the demolition of an old lime dosing device to facilitate fish migration, and the construction of a wetland and sludge traps in Grimsboda. However, problems remain, which will continue to be addressed through new measures in this Leader project. 

The LEADER project includes making an inventory of measures and planning for the new stretch along the Ekeshultsån. Furthermore, contractors will be hired for logging and clearing to create edge zones, build wetlands and floodplains and lay stones on the bottom of the river. Marketing will take place via social media and the website as well as through signs that are put up in and around the area. The project also includes a salary for the project manager who coordinates the efforts and arranges lectures and hikes to talk about the water conservation efforts.

The river along the current stretch has been largely cleared and straightened since the turn of the 19th century. The water is calm along most of the stretch, with the exception of a stretch downstream of the gravel road to Örnanäs, which is somewhat flowing. The streambed consists of sand and stone. The occurrence of dead wood is very low, as is the occurrence of spawning grounds and nursery areas for fish. The epilitoral currently consists of a mixture of arable land, pasture and mixed forest. One area is a fine swamp forest dominated by sticky alder. However, the area is ditched and there is no open water surface at present.

North of the gravel road to Örnanäs along the eastern side of the river, it is proposed to level the edges at a slope of 1:5 and to preserve the protective trees as far as possible. In the arable land, south of the gravel road to Örnanäs, there are good conditions for creating a larger floodplain of approximately 0.6-0.8ha. The edges of the floodplain are leveled to a very low slope.

Along the entire stretch, from the gravel road to Örnanäs and further downstream, work is ongoing to replace spruce with deciduous forest. Downstream of the swamp forest, there are good conditions for carrying out edge leveling along a stretch of approximately 180m. At the same time, a 20m wide edge zone with deciduous trees is proposed on each side of the river.

The project has included the construction of a riverbank leveling and floodplain, as well as a larger wetland. An ecological functional riparian zone has been established along several parts of the river.

The project has contributed to improving the hydromorphological conditions in the river by allowing water to penetrate and widen into floodplains and edge flattening. The wetland contributes with retaining and purifying effects of the water as well as with biodiversity. The area around the floodplain and wetland has been planted with flowering herbs that provide good conditions for pollinating insects.

The project is an important part of the work with Rädda Immeln with several water improvement measures in the land around the lake's largest tributary, the Ekeshultsån. It is assessed to improve the water quality in the Ekeshultsån in the long term and thereby contribute to living waterways, lakes and healthy ecosystems in the area. The project will be carried out in collaboration with landowners, affected municipalities and other stakeholders. In this way, it fits well into the LEADER method and the area's development strategy for 2014–2020.