Background Located in the southern part of Sweden, the ‘mountain’ of Kinnekulle, actually a plateau 265 m high, rises majestically above the surrounding fields and Lake Vänern. This unusual geological formation has, over the last thousand years, been extensively grazed and mowed. As a result, Kinnekulle hosts a particularly rich and diverse set of habitats and species. No less than 17 habitat types of the Habitats Directive are to be found here, including 9 priority ones. These range from calcareous grasslands and wooded pastures to deciduous and coniferous forests. The richness of the area was recognised already by Carolus Linnaeus, who visited the site in 1746. Unfortunately, as with so many of these traditional low-intensity agricultural landscapes, small-scale farming lost much of its economic viability during the last century. This forced many of the local farms to lessen or abandon their grazing and mowing practices and to seek more lucrative land use activities, such as commercial forestry. The rich local biodiversity inevitably suffered. Many grassland areas were abandoned and are now in urgent need of management. As for the forests, they were under constant threat from logging. Yet despite all these negative trends the local stakeholders became increasingly aware of the high conservation value of the site and of alternative farming possibilities such as agri-environment schemes. This led the County Administrative Board, in close cooperation with local farmers, the regional forestry organisation and Götene municipality, to apply to LIFE-Nature to help kick-start the process of restoring the site. Objectives The overall objective was to restore and, in a long-term perspective, maintain a favourable conservation status of the Natura 2000 species and habitat values at Kinnekulle, in cooperation with landowners, the local community and other interested parties. Project actions will include: The restoration of habitats which depend on grazing or haymaking for their favourable conservation status, to the level that they qualify for uptake in the EU agri-environment scheme. Open and wooded grasslands, threatened by overgrowth, are to be cleared, fenced and re-opened for grazing and/or hay-making. The habitats concerned are Juniperus communis formations on heaths or calcareous grasslands (5130), rupicolous calcareous or basophilic grasslands (*6110), semi-natural dry grasslands on calcareous substrates (6120), Fennoscandian lowland species-rich dry to mesic grasslands (6270), Molinia meadows (6410), lowland dry meadows (6510), petrifying springs with tufa formation (*7220), alkaline fens (7230) and Fennoscandian wooded pastures (9070). At sites with particularly high conservation values and/or large restoration efforts, the long-term management will be regulated through legal designation as nature reserve. Forest habitats that depend on specific management to maintain or improve conservation status are to be designated as nature reserves or biotope reserves, or to be properly managed within the framework of management agreements. Habitats concerned are transition mires and quaking bogs (7140), western taiga (*9010), Fennoscandian hemiboreal natural old broad-leaved forests (*9020), Fennoscandian herb-rich spruce forests (9050), Fennoscandian deciduous swamp woods (*9080), sub-Atlantic oak forests (9160), Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines (*9180) and residual alluvial forests (*91E0). For other forest habitats, the management will be determined, in accordance with the Habitats Directive, within the framework of set targets and consultation. Oak trees and other old and large broad-leaved deciduous trees are to be mapped. The areas around a sufficient number of these trees will be cleared, in order to assure the continuous presence of old and large trees, and to improve the conditions for a favourable conservation status for Osmoderma eremita (a priority species).As a consequence of these actions, around 400 ha of forest will be purchased or brought into conservation agreements with their owners. A further 600 ha of grasslands and wooded pastures will be restored to a level where they can qualify for agri-environment payments and the local farmers will be given logistical support to encourage them to enter these schemes. These core measures will be accompanied by the preparation of new and updated conservation plan for the management of the SAC, and a public awareness campaign to highlight the area’s unique natural heritage. The campaign will aim at heightening knowledge and understanding of the nature conservation values and Natura 2000 among the large and increasing number of visitors to Kinnekulle, and channelling their movements in order to avoid damage of sensitive habitats and species. Results Calcareous grasslands and wooded pastures with values threatened by overgrowth due to ceased or insufficient management have been restored by removing bushes and trees. Land where grazing had ceased have been fenced and grazing resumed. Through these actions 600 ha of natural grasslands have been restored to a favourable conservation status. The number of Lanius collurio doubled and numbers of typical grassland plants have increased in restored areas. In order to assure the long-term management of restored pastures, three stables have been built and an additional 300 grazing animals have been introduced. Almost 700 ha of particularly valuable grasslands and 400 ha of forest where preservation of the natural values is incompatible with commercial forestry have been protected as nature reserves, habitat protection areas or under nature conservation agreements to ensure suitable long-term management. Some 4 500 old deciduous trees have been monitored and more than 800 trees have been cleared of surrounding bushes and trees in order to create suitable habitats for the beetle Osmoderma eremita. By the end of the project, 17 nature reserves covering a total of 1541.3 ha were established. For each nature reserve a management plan was elaborated which has been approved by the competent authority and the plans are attached to the decision of the relevant nature reserves. The project produced a number of high-quality publications, including a visitor guide in three languages (Swedish, English and German). English versions of these brochures are uploaded in the "Read more" section. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section). In April 2016, eight years after the project closed, the LIFE external monitoring team carried out an ex-post follow up visit. This concluded that the project had more than achieved its main objective of creating 17 nature reserves in the Kinnekulle Plateau Mountain. The ex-post considered the sustainability of the project actions to be very high: management plans for the reserves were being implemented and all actions (e.g. shrub clearance, fencing, grazing, an exhibition building and three cattle stables) were still evident. The mission noted considerable improvements in the habitats, and that the grasslands would have continued to deteriorate without the project interventions. The conservation work has helped make the area more attractive to the public, with a year-on-year increase in visitor numbers. The project’s visitor guide (information folder) on Kinnekulle is still valid and has been updated three times. One of the notable project successes was the cooperative agreements established with landowners and owners of grazing animals, with beneficiary CAB developing a specific concept (the Kinnekulle Concept) for making payments to secure ongoing sustainable land management. The ex-post visit confirmed that the RDP agri-environmental fund schemes established by the project were still active, though an alternative means of funding (from the County Administrative Board) was needed in some cases due to changing national criteria.