Skalanes Nature and Heritage Centre

A morning in Seydefjordur Iceland, a small town (Pop 700) in the east Fjords of Iceland at the end of the Seydefjordur fjord. We visited Skalanes Nature and Heritage Centre which is remote, 17km from Seydefjordur at the mouth of the fjord, with colonies of Artic Terns, Puffins, Eider Ducks and many other species, and surrounded by cliffs and wild flower meadows. It was a 45 minute drive along rough roads and across streams in a lorry converted to a people carrier. The centre is situated in a restored farm house set within its own nature reserve. The diversity of ongoing projects gives them access to ecology, natural history, geology, archaeology, conservation, and traditional skills. Within the reserve are at least 90 archaeological sites which are thought to be evidence of continuous habitation of the land in the area since the settlement of Iceland 1000 years ago. Seydefjordur’s steep- sided valley has unfortunately been prone to avalanches.