“If you don’t have the opportunity to take a winter trip to Greenland or Canada to see muskrats, Dovrefjell is a good and cheap alternative”, points out Schandy.
Elsewhere in Norway, sea eagles and golden eagles fly on powerful wings above the sky, and whales of several tens of tons blow as they break the surface of the sea so that the spray of foam stands.
But will it stay that way? Will we also in the future be able to go out into the free nature and see life’s miracles?
The nature photographer and author Tom Schandy has, in the course of around 50 years of searching for good nature experiences, noticed a disturbing development.
“Despite great attention to this issue of nature loss, we are constantly destroying nature on a large scale,” says Schandy to Dagsavisen.
– Crises go hand in hand
“Wind turbines are popping up like toadstools, destroying wilderness and killing birdlife – with approval from the authorities. We are planning large cottage towns with all possible luxury. The ocean is being overfished, while climate change is altering the entire ecological balance. Climate crisis and natural crisis go hand in hand. Never before have the problems been greater than right now.”
That’s what Schandy writes in the foreword to his new book “Nature experiences in Norway”. On a journey of discovery among wild animals, birds and plants.”
As he considers it, it is absolutely necessary that we get to know our nature better.
“If we are to reverse the trend, it is important that we – and the coming generation – are aware of which natural values are in decline”, writes Schandy.
“We need places where people get close to nature. It creates commitment and interest, and it is extremely important at a time when strong interests waltz over our nature.”
In his new book, he therefore writes about 40 such places across the country, which can offer “unique nature experiences”.
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Dogfight between eagles
One of these places is Dalen Villmarksenter in Telemark, which Schandy refers to as the place “where the golden eagles fight”. The owner of this wilderness center is Jostein Hellevik, better known as “Fotobonden”, after many episodes about him on NRK.
On the website of the wilderness center, it is advertised that “it is at Dalen Villmarkssenter that the BBC, National Geographic and NRK have filmed many of their nature programmes, and many photographers have taken competition-winning photos here.”
Nor did Tom Schandy leave without results after the visit described in his new book. We enter the action after a golden eagle has landed to feed on a bait that has been put out.
Then another golden eagle comes “like a bullet, at full speed and right in the sight of the sitting eagle. The two collide in a short aerial battle so wings and claws go both here and there. The new arrival is the toughest and manages to conquer the prey. The other has to pull away in the loose snow. It almost disappears before it takes off, so the snowflakes fly around it.”
December and January are suitable times to go to the Valley and see golden eagles, according to Schandy.
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Sea eagle safari in Trøndelag
Schandy also writes about a visit to Flatanger in Trøndelag. There he has been on a sea eagle safari with the “eagle man” Ole Martin Dahle as guide.
“I will come to Flatanger at the beginning of September. It’s a long drive if you’re like me, driving from Drammen in Eastern Norway. But lovely when you arrive and are greeted by Ole Martin, who has a long beard and looks like a Viking. I will be staying at Eagle House, his private guest house for eagle tourists.”
The next morning, Schandy tells about the boat trip out to sea to see the sea eagles in their right element.
“Ole Martin has of course done his homework – he has been fishing. In a bucket are cod, mackerel and pollock, ready to become food for eagles. And the eagles know that.”
A cod is then thrown into the sea and “we only barely manage to back the boat and get into position before the eagle is 40-50 meters above our heads. With a wingspan of 2.5 metres, it makes a powerful impression against the blue sky. The eagle’s gaze is fixed on the fish in the water, and before we can even sigh, it lies on its side – and plunges. It goes so incredibly fast. Just before it reaches the surface of the water, it extends its claws and grabs its prey.”
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– The view is phenomenal
Even when the wildlife is not as eye-catching as in Dalen or on Flatanger, Norway can offer spectacular nature experiences. One of the places Schandy mentions in this respect is Surtningssue – a mountain with several peaks in Jotunheimen. The highest of these peaks is 2,368 meters. In comparison, the more famous Galdhøpiggen – Northern Europe’s highest mountain, 2,468.8 meters, according to the Mapping Authority.
“It is of course a subjective claim, but many claim that Surtningssue, on the border between Lom and Vågå, has Jotunheimen’s most beautiful view. After a summer night at the top, I can at least confirm that the view up there is phenomenal. The trip starts with the tourist boat Gjende, which patrols the magnificent mountain water of the same name several times a day. It is a beautiful mountain lake, and here the legendary Jo Gjende lived in a simple log cabin. He was a mountain man at heart, a real loner who ran around the mountains and hunted reindeer. It is said that he killed 500 reindeer, mainly big bucks. Jo Gjende died in 1884, aged 90”, writes Schandy.
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– As if there were matches
Norway also has large, beautiful forest areas, for those who prefer that instead of going uphill. Between the two valleys Sigdal and Numedal lies the Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell nature reserve. With its 156 square kilometers, it is one of Norway’s largest nature reserves.
For those who visit the area, the experiences are “linked to ancient forest, cultural heritage and historical use in an area that has been little influenced by humans in recent times”, we can read on the nature reserve’s website.
Forests free of logging machines and logging areas are a rarity today, notes Schandy.
“I have seen how the harvesters roar forward, felling tree by tree, as if they were matches. In a short time, the entire forest is gone. It is true that new trees are coming up, but the forest as it was will not return. What is coming now is a cultural forest with far less species diversity than the old forest,” he writes about this.
But Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell is different.
“Species that depend on old-growth forest such as big bird, goshawk, wood-toed woodpecker and shrike thrive in the area, and a total of 65 red-listed species have been found in here, that is, species that are more or less threatened,” says Schandy.
Died out twice
Things went badly for the muskox on Dovrefjell, a long, long time before anyone started talking about red-listed species.
“In Norway, it existed 30,000 to 100,000 years ago, but then it died out,” writes Schandy.
“It was only during the construction of the Dovrebanen in 1915 that it was confirmed that Dovrefjell had been old musk land. Then a fossil vertebra was found, which gave the first ideas about the release of musk oxen on Dovrefjell. The first release took place on 7 October 1932 when ten animals from Greenland were released at Hjerkinn. Two more animals were released in 1938. The herd multiplied, but all disappeared during the war.”
“Some people claim that the German soldiers hunted the muskox, but that is not true,” reads the website of Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park.
“They shot two bulls, but the rest of the animals disappeared as a result of Norwegians and accidents”, it is explained there.
In the years 1947-1953, musk were again released on Dovrefjell – 21 calves from Greenland.
“This time the animals managed, they multiplied and became what they are today – a tourist attraction and a symbol for Dovrefjell”, continues Schandy.
A number of companies now offer musk safaris, according to the website of Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park.
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– “Business as usual”
What about the thousands of species in Norway that are threatened today? Will they be able to survive?
– Even though we are constantly creating more nature reserves, we are still not doing enough to take care of the natural diversity around us, says Tom Schandy to Dagsavisen.
– The politicians have access to the knowledge. Many books have been written about both nature loss and climate change, a bunch of chronicles and documentaries on TV, such as “Oppsynsmannen” with Bård Tufte Johansen. Asgeir Helgestad’s prize-winning film “Skal hilse fra naturen”, which is shown in cinemas all over the country, has been shown at the Storting.
– Nevertheless, it is “business as usual”. We will mine at the bottom of the sea, we will build huge wind power plants, and we plan to build twice as many cabins as we have built so far. When you add up all these interventions, eventually there will be a lot of nature – and species diversity, which will have to give way.
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– Probably not a true dream
– Another nature photographer and writer – Arne Nævra, recently told Dagsavisen that “no one will make me be an optimist on behalf of nature now”. Are you as pessimistic as him?
– I understand Nævra’s frustration. He has sat in the Storting and knows how difficult it is to get through the good nature measures. I have a dream – probably like Nævra, that conservation of nature should be an overarching principle in all political decisions – but I’m probably not dreaming, unfortunately, replies Schandy.
– Nevertheless, positive things happen. I write in the book about how the white-tailed eagle has come back in full force and now even nests in the Oslo Fjord – after being extinct for over a hundred years. The same applies to the peregrine falcon.
– But coming to Runde and seeing the bird’s mountain empty of crutches is, to say the least, depressing. When I was there in the 70s, there were hundreds of thousands of crutches in the mountains. Something dramatic is happening – and all reports, including WWF’s “Living Planet”, show that there are negative developments everywhere. The positive thing is that we have knowledge, so it is possible to change the course. The question is whether the politicians will.