Hardangervidda

The whole of the Hardangervidda is above the tree line. Its alpine climate enables the presence of many species of arctic animals and plants further south than anywhere else in Europe. The core area is nearly bush- and treeless.

Hardangervidda is the largest continuous mountainous plateau in Europe

The Hardangervidda reindeer area is located between Kvinnherad, Eidfiord and Odda (Sorforden) in Southwest Norway.  The elevation ranges between 1,100 and 1,500m above sealevel with the exception of the Hardanger glacier which reaches up to an elevation of 1,819 m above sealevel and covers an area of 1200 ha. The area is characterized by a mountainous plateau with fjords and fjellplateaus covering an area of 820000 ha. In terms of large herbivore conservation even a larger area could be interesting.

Hardangervidda is Norway's largest nationalpark with 343000 ha and has been established in 1980.

In the Holocene climatic optimum (stone age) 9000 - 5000 years ago, the regional climate was warmer, and large parts of Hardangervidda were wooded; pine logs can still be found preserved in bogs well above today's treeline. With the predicted warming, Hardangervidda could again be largely wooded.

Reindeer
Its wild reindeer herds are among the largest in the world, with some 15,000 animals recorded in 1996 and about 8,000 in 2008. They migrate across the plateau during the year, moving from their winter grazing lands on the east side of the Hardangervidda, where they graze on lichen, to their breeding grounds in the more fertile west of the plateau.

The reindeer population showed enormous population fluctuations during the last 50 years

Large carnivores

Wolf and Brown bear have their main distribution in the forested areas but occur in low numbers in the alpine areas too. Both species are managed in a common Swedish and Norwegian population.

Wolf and brown bear encounter

Wolverines and Arctic foxes were numerous in the Hardangervidda during the late 19th century. High hunting pressure brought the populations down to critical levels at the turn of the century.

Today, Hardangervidda has some of Scandinavia's few remaining populations of Arctic foxes. The populations are presently declining in all Scandinavian countries although the species has been protected since 1930. A restoration program has therefore been initiated including the release of animals bred in captivity. Hardangervidda will be one of five source areas for the captive breeding program.

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• Hotspots for large herbivores, 2001