Photo: nidelv·CC BY 3.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Færder / Busteinane
An island group in the southern Færder skerries, Vestre and Østre Bustein with their attendant islets. Østre Bustein counts as important for plant life and insect fauna, and the group is part of Færder National Park.
Vestre and Østre Bustein, with their attendant islets, make up this group at the southern end of the Færder skerries. They are low and weather-beaten, with bare rock shelves. A narrow sound divides the two, in the middle of Færder National Park.
Færder National Park; check Naturbase for access bans. The boundaries and the rules are in Naturbase, and they are worth checking before you land anywhere outside the marked areas.
Own boat or kayak.
No scheduled boat comes here. You will have to find the nearest public quay yourself, and the rest is your own boat or a kayak. Check the wind and wave forecast before you set out. The open stretches in the outer fjord turn unpleasant in a fresh breeze.
The written record for Busteinane is thin. The value here is natural: Østre Bustein is registered as one of the important sites in the Færder skerries for plant flora and insect fauna, alongside Sandø, Bolærne and Moutmarka. The park as a whole has 309 registered red-listed species.
The islands are uninhabited and part of Færder National Park, established on 23 August 2013. Boat owners use them for walking, swimming and fishing trips. Østre Bustein is botanically valuable enough that people should tread carefully.
No ferry connection. Come by your own boat or kayak. Protection: the whole group lies within Færder National Park. The park's seabird reserves are as a rule closed to landing in the breeding season, 15 April to 15 July. Which islets in Busteinane are covered has to be checked in Naturbase, the national database of protected areas, before you tie up. The rules are legally binding, so look them up instead of assuming. Tread carefully for the sake of the plant life on Østre Bustein.
Østre Bustein is on the list of the most species-rich places in the whole Færder archipelago, level with the far larger and better-known Sandø and Bolærne.
There are 309 red-listed species inside the park boundaries. A fair number of them are on these small, unremarkable islets.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Busteinane on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Busteinane på norsk.