Welcome to Kosterhavet National Park

On the west coast of Sweden, on the border to Norway, the first marine national park in Sweden is established. The marine environment here is influenced by the Atlantic and it includes habitats and species found nowhere else in Swedish waters.

This area, Kosterhavet, is also a valuable recreational resource - it is one of Sweden´s most visited tourist destinations - and has an important inshore fishery, mostly for prawns and Norwegian lobsters. Protecting and maintaining the natural and economic wealth of Kosterhavet is one of the great challenges in managing this new national park. The Kosterhavet National Park was inaugerated in September 2009.

Sweden's highest marine biodiversity

Close to the bottom of the 200 meter deep Koster Fjord the high salinity (34-35‰) and the low temperature (5-7°C) seawater is more typical of the open ocean than of Swedish coastal waters. Sub-surface currents bring larvae of deep ocean species such as brachiopods, sponges and cold-water corals from the Atlantic continental slope. Of the 6000 marine species that have been identified in Kosterhavet, more than 200 are found nowhere else in Sweden.

A national park can promote local development

Kosterhavet is both home and workplace to many people. Nearly 24 000 people live in this, and neighbouring districts. About 1 000 people live in, or immediately adjacent to the national park. Tourism is a major source of income, Kosterhavet has excellent recreational opportunities. The area attracts over 100 000 turists each year.

Read the article Nets, nature and national parks about Kosterhavet written by Gordon McInnes from EEA (European Environment Agency). The 'Our Natural Europe' or 'ONE' stories are being developed by the EEA and its Eionet partners to illustrate in everyday language what biodiversity is and how we’re connected to it.

More information

Kosterhavet National Park
General information folder

Kosterhavet National Park
A summary of resolutions - management plan - regulations

Discovery under the sea

Nature guide for boating

Ursholmen Lighthouse

Saltö Nature Reserve in Kosterhavet

Fishing in the Koster-Väderö Fjord

Kosterhavet proposed Marine Park, Sweden

Sweden´s 29 National Parks
A guide to our finest landscapes

Schwedens Westküste

A German TV-team visited the West Coast of Sweden and Kosterhavet National Park in the summer 2013. Here you can see the TV-program they made. After 19 minutes (19-23:30) in the program they come to Kosterhavet and they follow Tero Härkönen during his investigation of the seal population in the park. The last minutes (from 40-45 min) of the program are also from Kosterhavet.