Telemark » Hardangervidda Nasjonalparksenter

Hardangervidda National Park, at 3400 sq km is Scandinavia's largest national park by far, and one of mainland Europe's largest, with a unique mountain ecological system intact. Hardangerviddasenteret AS (the Hardangervidda National Park Centre) is located at Skinnarbu /Møsvatn on the eastern edge of the plateau, and is one of two authorized national park centres – the second is on the western plateau at Eidfjord – with information and outreach responsibility for the Hardangervidda National Park.

Hardangervidda National Park is located on the Hardangervidda plateau, which is Europe's largest mountain plateau of 8000 sq km and considerably larger than the Finnmark plateau. Hardangervidda is western Europe's largest continuous "green lung" and habitat for the largest and oldest European strain of wild reindeer. The wild reindeer is about 300,000 years old, Europe's oldest mammal; during the last Ice Age more than 12,000 years ago, when the Scandinavian peninsula was completely covered by ice, it was the most important prey in southern France.

The Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre, a government foundation, comprises two centres: one at Skinnarbu including the national centre with professional responsibility for Hardangervidda /Setesdal/ Ryfylkegarden and the southern Norwegian mountains, and the other at Hjerkinn with responsibility for the reindeer on Dovre/Rondane.

The National Park Centre is currently working on a modern audio-visual wild reindeer exhibition, in collaboration with the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre, which it is hoped will be finished in autumn 2010.