The Harøya Wetlands System ( no, Harøya våtmarkssystem) is a

Ramsar Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in a ...

site located on

Harøya Harøya is a swampy island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. At , it is the largest island in the municipality. The island is located between the islands of Finnøya (to the northeast) and Fjørtofta (to the southwest ...

island in the municipality of Ålesund in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It consists of six separate protected areas: three nature reserves plus a large wildlife sanctuary containing two smaller bird sanctuaries. The areas have been protected as a Ramsar site since 1996 because of their importance for migratory birds. Harøya has large shallow areas with mudflats where seaweed collects. In the inner parts of the island there are marshy areas, and along the beaches there are damp

beach meadow Beach Meadows are coastal meadows influenced by the presence of the nearby sea. Under this definition, the salinity of the air and wind is always high and the meadows are often flooded during and after stormy weather. These conditions implies t ...

s. The island is important as an overwintering area and resting area for birds migrating in the spring and fall. The protected areas are: * The Selvikvågen Nature Reserve, established on May 27, 1988 () * The

Lomstjønna Nature Reserve The Lomstjønna Nature Reserve ( no, Lomstjønna naturreservat) is located on Harøya island in the municipality of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The area received protection in 1988 "to preserve an important wetland area with as ...

, established on May 27, 1988 () * The Malesanden and Huse Wildlife Sanctuary, established on May 27, 1988, a buffer zone with two subareas covering : ** The Malesanden Bird Sanctuary ** The Huse Bird Sanctuary * The Lyngholman Nature Reserve, established on May 27, 1988 ()

References

External links

Harøya våtmarkssystem: kort områdeskildring (Harøya Wetlands System: A Brief Description of the Area)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haroya Wetlands System Nature reserves in Norway Ramsar sites in Norway Protected areas of Møre og Romsdal Ålesund Protected areas established in 1996