Fjell river network

There are many river networks out by the coast and they tend to be small and unassuming. The farmer has relied upon the watercourses to run his mill and saw, and it may be that the trout have given him a good source of food in years when the ocean fish failed. In our time, these river networks are being rediscovered for their value in recreation and outdoor life, and several places, tourist trails have been built in order to fully enjoy them.

Landro

Landro has been the largest estate on Sotra, including 15 farms with reasonable conditions for agriculture. Their boathouses have had an excellent harbour in Landrovågen. Landro thus has been a good basis for the combination of agriculture and fishing.

Li

Løno

Small boat folk in Hordaland know where Løno is. As do many seabirds. With the big ocean at its back and a wide, weather beaten strait ahead of it, Løno is one of Hordaland’s most isolated and exposed recreational areas. The islands west of Sotra are some of the county’s most stable nesting localities for seabirds.

Etnedeltaet

During the latter half of the 1900s the big natural river deltas on Westland disappeared. Until the 1980s there was still a small, but significant remnant of the original river delta from the Etneelva river, but today most of this, too, is industrial land.

Etne river

There is still life to be found that is just “hanging on a string”. The Etne river has been the most important river for sports- fisherman in Hordaland after salmon fishing in Vosso was temporarily forbidden. As late as 2000, 4 tonnes of salmon and sea trout were taken out of the Etne river, the best fishing for 10 years. In the whole of the county there are only 15-20 rivers that can compete with this haul.

Bordalsgjelet

Deep down between the stone polished phyllite bedrock in Bordalsgjelet canyon, there is a cascading river. In close cooperation with hard polishing stones, the water has carved into the bedrock for thousands of years - and is still doing so today.

Gjernes

Lønaøyane

The Strandaelvi river is forever protected from the development of hydropower. The Lønaøyane islands – which comprise the delta furthest north in Lake Lønavatnet - are a part of this water system. In 1995 the level of protection for the Lønaøyne islands was strengthened to that of a nature preserve because of the rich birdlife in this wetland.

Myrkdalsdeltaet

Mykdal delta had an unusually diverse bird life, right up until 1987. The Myrkdal delta should have been protected, and the plans were prepared. Despite the area's high elevation at 227 m a.s.l., it had a wide variety of bird species compared with other fresh water wetlands in inner Hordaland. Several of the bird species were also unusual for the region. The delta had for example a permanent nesting colony of Eurasian Wigeon, believed to be the only one of its kind in the municipality.