National Parks and Landscape Preservation Areas by the Sognefjord
National Parks are extensive, largely untouched nature areas of unusual scenic or historic interest that are owned by the state and protected to safeguard the rich diversity of Norway’s natural heritage. In the Sognefjord region, you will find two of Norway’s largest and most famous national parks – the Jotunheimen National Park and the Jostedalsbreen National Park. The three largest landscape preservation areas in the county of Sogn og Fjordane are Utladalen, the Nærøyfjord and Stølsheimen in the Sognefjord region.
|
|
Jotunheimen National Park is characterized by high mountains, glaciers and deep lakes. There are more than 200 mountain peaks rising above 2000 m (6560 ft) in Jotunheimen, the three highest being Galdhøpiggen, Glittertind and Store Skagastølstind.
|
|
|
Almost half of the Jostedalsbreen National Park is covered by the Jostedalsbreen glacier, which is the largest glacier in mainland Europe.
|
This landscape preservation area, which is closely connected to the Jotunheimen National Park, was established at the same time as the national park in 1980. The protection area is located within the municipalities of Årdal and Luster and covers both the Utladalen valley and some tributary valleys. |
|
The Nærøyfjord landscape preservation area, which was established in 2002, mainly consists of the world-famous Nærøyfjord and the surrounding mountains. The area is dominated by the spectacular fjord with its distinctive cultural landscape, historical buildings and relics of the past. |
|
The Stølsheimen landscape preservation area is a mountain area with many summer pasture farms in hilly terrain bordering on a spectacular fjord landscape. Within the protected area you will also find the roadless and exotic Finnafjord in the municipality of Vik. |
Small and almost untouched areas with special habitats or fauna of high scientific value are usually protected as nature reserves. This is the strictest form of protection that can be applied. Within the Sognefjord area there are several nature reserves, for instance bird and wetland reserves such as the Hafslovatnet lake (Luster), Bøyaøyra (Sogndal), Vetlefjordsøyra (Balestrand) and Grånåsmyrane (Aurland). The Skogteigen coniferous forest reserve in Luster, established in 1914, is the oldest nature reserve in Norway. The Nigardsbreen nature reserve (Luster) is connected to the Jostedalsbreen National Park and is probably one of Norway’s best-known nature reserves. |
Norsk
