Skorpo

Skorpo - Polished by glaciers and meltwater

Lure Fjord

Both Lure Fjord and Lindåsosane to the inside give good living conditions for rare marine organisms: jellyfish, shellfish and fish. These include animals that migrated in after last the Ice Age, when the sea level was higher. Eventually, as the land rose, some of these populations became isolated.

Husebø

When the Corncrake returned to Nordhordland, it came as no surprise that Husebø was the place it chose. Here, remnants of the old cultural landscape are still in good condition. And the Corncrake is not alone in appreciating this.

Salhusfjorden

When the debate about building a pontoon bridge over Salhus Fjord was raging, some were afraid that the bridge would disrupt the ecology of the fjord system inside. The worst predictions did not prove true, but it is easy to see that there was a change: the Puffins have gotten a new food platter after the Nordhordaland bridge was built. Its favourite meal, mussels, thrive on the pontoons that are the foundation for the bridge.

Mjøsvågen

Around Mjøsvågen here is still a compact marine use area. Some of the buildings are common boathouses, but most of them also house small enterprises and workshops. This is where the farmers from Øvsthus, Mjøs, Hole and other farms have supplemented their meagre incomes as smiths, brass moulders, clog makers, chest builders and decorative painters.

Toska

The peat bogs on Toska have been mined for peat since 1946, when the island got electricity. In this treeless coastal landscape, peat was the most important source of energy, and this took quite a toll on the bogs.

Veafjorden

Some decades ago, Veafjord and the currents in toward the bigger rivers were the most likely places to see harbour seals in Hordaland. In the summer flocks lay on the beach and waited for the salmon to trickle in. Sometimes they also followed the fish a little way up the river.

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.

Espevikpollen

Mosnes

The permanently-protected Mosneselva River, with its meltwater from Folgefonna, runs out into Åkra Fjord by the roadless and uninhabited Mosnes. Those who once lived here were forced to surrender to the ravages of Nature. In the autumn of 1962 there was a flood so great that the people were driven from their farms.