VEGAØYAN WORLD HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The eider tradition
The eider tradition has a history of more than 1000 years in Helgeland and Nordland. Around 1900, 1 ton of down was exported from Nordland. At that time, approximately 10,000 eiders were nesting on Vegaøyan. After people moved from the islands , the population declined drastically. Many birds left the islands when they did not have the same protection as before. Others were taken by mink, and many seabirds died when the Deyfovos sank off Helgeland in the 1980s.
Around the year 2000, the eiderdown tradition reached a critical point. The oldest birdtenders no longer saw a way to continue, and the younger ones couldn’t afford to take time off to stay on the islands during the nesting season.. With the World Heritage status, the Vegaøyan World Heritage Foundation has gained the financial means to provide grants to birdtenders to be out on the islands This has resulted in positive developments in the Vega Islands. The number of birds and birdtenders has tripled from a few years ago. In recent years, however, the number of breeding eiders has declined for various reasons, which has caused great concern among both the birdtenders and the Vegaøyan World Heritage Foundation. This is also the direct reason why the Foundation and the birdtenders in 2025 will send a message of concern to UNESCO. The decline is also the reason why the Foundation developed the project Sound of Silence and joined as a sub-project in Fuglan veit at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway.
Otter attacks have led to a large reduction in the two largest downy mildews Lånan and Muddvær . Climate change and possible food shortages in some places due to kelp forest death may be other reasons. There is a lack of both research and monitoring of the area. Getting this in place is a priority area for the Vegaøyan World Heritage Foundation and was pointed out in the impact assessment on the Vegaøyan World Heritage that was carried out by Instead Heritage in 2021 – 2022. On January 14, 2025, the long-announced national action plan for seabirds was released.
The plan contains few concrete measures and no funding for measures. The foundation will continue its work to increase national and international focus on the situation of seabirds and help create new alliances for seabirds.
In 2024, the foundation and its partner, Nordland County Council / the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, contributed just over NOK 2.1 million in various grants. These supported around 22 bird wardens, recruitment initiatives, training courses for new eider wardens, transportation during the nesting season, predator control, and outreach and educational efforts.
The Vegaøyan World Heritage Foundation has, in collaboration with Nordland Eider Association work to recruit new birdtenders and increase the number of nests and eider houses in the World Heritage area through courses, additional grants for the restoration of old eider houses and the construction of new ones.
The foundation also supports the work that takes place through Utværet. Lånan AS which is established by the birdtenders in Lånan , and has contributed funds for dissemination measures and for, among other things, a children's book and the film Lånandyna, which tells the story of the down-filled tradition.