Jonstein

When high school student Arne Handegard collected plants for a herbarium in 1962, he didn’t know what kind of rarity he had pressed into his notebook. 30 years later he attended a botanical lecture, where a picture was shown of a plant he recognized: “Norwegian Sagebrush, which in Norway is only found in a large area of Dovre and in Trollheimen, and in a little area in Ry county”. Arne Handegard raised his hand: “That plant grows on Mt. Jonstein in Jondal”.

Grindheim church

The first church at Grindheim was a stave church with a free-standing steeple. The church was first mentioned in 1326, but was probably built long before this time.

Stordalen

When the Etne water system was protected in 1994, preservation of the cultural landscape in Stordalen Valley was a a main objective. This is a valley with an exceptional abundance of Different types of plants and animals. In the grey alder forest in Stordalen there are more bird species than in most other places, in fact, denser than one tends to find in a tropical rainforest.

Ulvund

One of the oldest farms in Myrkdalen, Ulvund, is recognized as one of 14 areas in Hordaland having an especially valuable cultural landscape. The dirt road runs along a steep slope down toward Lake Myrkdalsvatnet. The flattest field, which today is harvested for silage, used to be an old grain field, while the slopes were old hayfields.

Floteskaret

Holo

I Kvassdalen var det aktiv stølsdrift med mjølking av kyr og geitehald nokre år inn i vårt tusenår, og slik hadde det vore i meir enn to hundre år. Såleis har dalen ikkje fått gro til med kratt og skog, men er open og lys. Fortsett er det beiting av kyr og sauer.