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Hälsoträdgården (the Health Garden) in Kristianstad lies right next to the Helge å river. Across the river, beyond the slowly flowing water and reeds and wetland willows, lies naturum Vattenriket, the visitor’s center in the Kristianstad Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve. A long wooden bridge, with one base at the corner of the Health Garden, connects the city-side bank of the river with the riparian shrubs, groves and fields on the other side. The impressive, reed-like wooden structure of the visitors’ center stands on poles in the middle of the wetland, perfectly blending in with its surroundings. Especially in autumn and spring, when the landscape is rich in nuances of brown, gray and light green. Inside, there are exhibits and a really knowledgeable staff, who arrange activities in the center and the biosphere reserve, year-round, for kids and adults alike. (Or at least they do, when there isn’t a pandemic wreaking havoc everywhere on Earth.)
It is a beautiful place. Naturum is where we ran our series of workshops for the project I’m doing my PhD in. From its windows or terrace, I have seen otters, storks and cranes, and many other birds. And from the visitors’ center starts several beautiful hiking trails through the mixed, cultural landscape of eastern Skåne.
So if you tire of the calm orderliness of the herb beds and rose bushes in the Health Garden, just cross the bridge for a more untamed experience, hiking through wetland meadows, deciduous groves and by grazing cows, too. I can really recommend it.
Photo: View of naturum Vattenriket from Hälsoträdgården in Kristianstad, Sweden, April 2019. Posted on Instagram April 19, 2021.
Katja Malmborg 