Interviews with professor Peter Emil Kaland

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1. The Lindås Project (1971-1977)

As a paleo ecologist, Peter Emil Kaland saw the need for new knowledge about the Norwegian heathlands. This lead to a huge, interdisciplinary project about the coastal landscapes of Nordhordland and effects the industrial development related to the Mongstad oil refinery, which included many natural, cultural and social scientists from the University of Bergen.

The Lindås Project was later followed up by the creation of the Heathland Centre (2000), and Nordhordland UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (2019).

2. Nordhordland UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Peter Emil Kaland dedicated a large part of his scientific career to the Nordhordland region, and made the initiative to have the region appointed the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status.

3. The Heathland Centre at Lygra

After the Lindås Project in the 1970's, paleo ecologist Peter Emil Kaland was one of the people who initiated the Heathland Centre - a living museum working to preserve the Norwegian coastal heathlands.

4. Arne Lie Christensen

Arne Lie Christensen was an ethnologist in the Lindås Project, who interviewed older inhabitants in Nordhordland about their lives in the coastal areas before the development of the Mongstad oil refinery.

5. Professor Kaland's research during the Lindås Project

One of the biggest research questions professor Kaland focused on during the Lindås Project was why the prehistoric coastal forests of Nordhordland had disappeared. Was it due to a change in climate leading making it unfavourable to the forests ("The Fimbul Winter"), or was it because farmers had cleared the lands?

Paleo ecological research during the Lindås Project solved the mystery.

The videos can also be watched directly through YouTube.