Downstream of the Munkfors power plant, Fortum has been working with the Munkfors Fishery Conservation Association to implement a biotope preservation project to improve the flowing water environment for salmonids, particularly graylings. A biotope is a designated area with specific properties in which certain organisms thrive.
Rocks of various sizes were set out in order to create and optimise a flowing water habitat in this stretch of the river. An estimated 200-250 m2 of rock was added or repositioned to create a more varied biotope. The west side is considered especially important for the grayling’s spawning and growth season during the spring and early summer. In parallel with the project, a number of larger boulders that had been cleared during the log driving era have also been reintroduced into the river.
After the implementation of the biotope protection measures downstream from the Munkfors power plant, there is now a more varied biotope with rock and environments advantageous to fish and other organisms that thrive in flowing water. The project was approved by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation as an environmental fund project under the criteria for electrical power marked Bra Miljöval 2009. The consulting firm Synlab AB has been responsible for project management in the field.