You have just gone ashore at Skjærvær, a tiny hamlet off Vega that is dependent on the local birdlife. It is strangely quiet out there. A singular atmosphere. Sharp, dark-blue mountains and the sea form the backdrop around this grass-green island. "The eider ducks were sacred to the wardens out here," says the guide. She shows us the tiny triangular coops that were built for the birds. You can imagine how the down was gathered and laboriously processed, involving a unique form of cooperation between man and wild birds. A hard life, but probably also a good one. A life in harmony with nature. And now you are looking forward to eating redfish stew at Øystein's in Hysvær, at the cafe he built himself - from driftwood!
Cultural monuments, cultivated landscapes and areas of countryside that are nominated for World Heritage status must be of unique and universal value in a global context. When UNESCO's World Heritage Committee discussed the nomination of the Vega Islands at its meeting in China on July 1, 2004, its grounds for awarding the area World Heritage status included the following:
"The Vega Islands show how generations of fishermen and farmers have, over the past 150 years, maintained a sustainable way of life in a weather-beaten area near the Arctic Circle, based on the now unique tradition of eider duck husbandry. The status is also a tribute to the contribution made by women in the processing of eider down."
Read more about the World Heritage area at www.verdensarvvega.no.
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