Røstøyan

Røstøyan. The island Trenyken.
Puffin at the island Hernyken.

Røstøyan

  • Country: 
    Norway
  • Site number: 
    1950
  • Area: 
    6,986.4 ha
  • Designation date: 
    12-11-2010
  • Coordinates: 
    67°27'N 11°56'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

Røstøyan is a large archipelago with hundreds of islands, islets and skerries surrounded by shallow marine waters. Vedøya and Storfjellet are the two largest islands. The Site is the most important breeding area for seabirds in Nordland County. Bird cliffs on several islands harbour nationally red-listed breeding populations of Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica (650,000 birds, constituting 3% of the global population), black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, razorbill Alca torda and common guillemot Uria aalge. On the skerries are breeding colonies of the great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, common shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis and black guillemot Cepphus grylle. The Site has a stable population of the nationally-threatened European otter Lutra lutra and common seal Phoca vitulina. It is popular for sports fishing and boat tours. The area has three protected archaeological and cultural heritage sites such as Skomvær lighthouse. A long-term research project on seabirds led by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research has been ongoing for 40 years. 

Administrative region: 
Nordland

  • National legal designation: 
    • Landscape Protected Area - Røstøyan
    • Nature Reserve - Nykan
  • Last publication date: 
    05-04-2018

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Additional reports and documents