Several types of vandalism to ancient cultural heritage have caused concern among experts this summer. In Lofoten, vandalism and encroachments have been uncovered in up to 16 mountains. The county municipality has reported several cases of so-called environmental crime to the police. The Arctic Circle Center at Saltfjellet in Nordland has up to 200,000 visitors every summer. The center is located 680 meters above sea level close to the E6, and is one of Northern Norway’s most popular tourist attractions. Many of the tourists also travel in the surrounding area and want to leave their mark, even though large parts of Saltfjellet are protected as a national park. The area, which has been popular to stay in, is getting bigger and bigger according to center manager for the Arctic Circle Centre, Fredrik Vollan. – This is a huge problem for the centre, the area and the national park. It is already a ruined part of cultural history. We see that it is spreading more in the national park and expanding with each passing day, he says. – We are working with the National Park Board and have ambitions to remove everything up here, says Fredrik Vollan. Photo: Frank Nygård / news Vollan, believes the damage from the tourists has become so serious that he wants to close off the area to free traffic. This specific area is a landscape conservation area. – We really hope so, so it will be allowed to grow back so that it can become the beautiful, green national park that we are so happy about, says Vollan. If you stand on Saltfjellet, there are cairns as far as the eye can see. TRACKS: What used to be green vegetation is now stone and sand. Photo: Frank Nygård / news Irreparable damage The problem is not just that tourists pile stones. They also have plaques with them which they drill and glue to the rocks in the area. DRILLS: People bring equipment to drill plaques into rocks that do not belong to the terrain. Photo: Frank Nygård / news Inge Sollund Ingvaldsen, head of the secretariat of the Midtre Nordland National Park Board, says that they are working purposefully to overcome the problem. – These are stones that are moved around. What is the problem? – There are two problems. One is the wear and tear on the landscape with text, and a very extensive lowering of the terrain. – People use the stones to write names, peace signs and all kinds of strange things, says Vollan. Photo: Frank Nygård / news Saltfjellet has a Sami cultural environment which, over several thousand years, has layer upon layer of cultural heritage. The area is considered the oldest and most important area of Sami cultural heritage south of Finnmark. – The biggest negative consequence is that several Sami cultural relics have been lost. Old Sami hearths, so-called Árran, have been kicked loose and cairns built. It is irreparable damage, says Sollund Ingvaldsen. Several thousand years of cultural heritage In the most intense areas for cairn building, there is only sand and stone left, and no vegetation. In the first instance, the area is cleared to make the terrain more virgin, so that it has the opportunity to re-vegetate and return to its natural state. Possible traffic ban If the tourists do not give in, the next step is a possible traffic ban, according to Sollund Ingvaldsen. – It is not something that we in the National Park Board have the authority to decide. But it can go so far that a traffic ban becomes necessary to overcome this increasing problem, says Sollund Ingvaldsen. – There are signs in the area, but they are in the wrong places. We hope to do something about that now, says Sollund. The area, which has been popular to stay in, is getting bigger and bigger according to center manager for the Arctic Circle Centre, Fredrik Vollan. Photo: Frank Nygård / news
ttn-69
Cultural heritage is being kicked loose – now hundreds of cairns are to be demolished – news Nordland
