Särö Västerskog is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 located in Kungsbacka Municipality

Kungsbacka Municipality

Kungsbacka Municipality is a municipality in Halland County on the Swedish west coast, some 30 km south of Gothenburg. The municipal seat is located in the town Kungsbacka....

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, on a peninsula west of the locality of Särö

Särö

Särö is a locality situated in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 2,982 inhabitants in 2005. It is located south of Gothenburg on the Särö peninsula, and is famous for its golf and tennis history. Geographically, the peninsula marks the transition from the Bohuslän archipelago in...

. It was established in 1974 and is currently part of the Natura 2000

Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.-Origins:In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the...

 ecological network.

The reserve has an area of 55 hectares; it is mostly covered with forest, but there are also pastures and beaches, as well as graves from the Nordic Bronze Age

Nordic Bronze Age

The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...

. The most common trees are oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 and pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

, some of which are 200-300 years old. In 1914, a pine tree with 480 growth rings was found - probably the oldest known pine in Halland

Halland

' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...

. Furthermore, the reserve houses the largest population of the common yew

Taxus baccata

Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...

 in Sweden.

55 species in the IUCN Red List

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 have been found in the reserve, including many lichens and beetles.