Paper short abstract:

The main aim with this paper is to discuss contradicting positions of metropolitan conservationists/governmental institutions and local inhabitants on what kinds of values the landscapes of national parks incorporate and on the aim of conservation and protection.

Paper long abstract:

The mountainous and forested landscapes of the inland part of South-Eastern Norway are characterized by several national parks. In many cases there have been, and still are, controversies over the purposes of the conservation and over the modes in which the parks should be managed. When a national park is initiated, one of the central tenets is often the protection of nature environments that are perceived more or less unaltered by humans. People living at the borders of the national parks tend in contrast to see the same areas as part of their own cultural landscapes. What is to be preserved in the perspective of many locals is hence their own local or regional cultural history, which in these cases is very much tied to traditional modes of utilizing the mountain areas. Until quite recently summer farming was a vital part of dairy cattle husbandry, while the fish and game represented substantial contributions to household economies. More or less belonging to the past today, many locals take pride in transforming these practices into a tradition one is having, thus making it an important dimension in the contemporary production of local identities. The main aim with this paper is to discuss the seemingly contradicting positions of on the one hand metropolitan conservationists and governmental institutions and on the other hand local inhabitants, on what kinds of values the landscapes incorporate and on the aim of conservation and protection.