The village of Etne

Much of the sand and gravel that the town of Etne is built on was laid down at the end of the Ice Age and is evidence of melting glaciers and roaring meltwater rivers. The uncompacted material in the big terraces leave their unmistakeable mark on the wide elongated valleys.

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.

Langfoss

Skånevik- Norwegian engine museum

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.

Os valley

Oselva

Oselvo is the biggest waterway on the Bergen peninsula, with sources in Gullfjellet and Sveningen. There is a fall of only 60 metres along the entire stretch from Samdalsvatnet Lake to the sandbank in Fusafjorden. It is rare to see a river like this in western Norway. There is salmon along this entire section of the Oselvo river.

Ulvensletta

Ulvenvatnet

Lake Ulvenvatnet is thought to be the most species rich wetlands in the municipality. Despite this, the area is not protected, nor is it likely ever to be.