The Site consists of two separate mire and marine areas. The mire area is one of the most extensive lowland Atlantic mire complexes in Norway, dotted with numerous ponds and lakes. The other half of the Site consists of shallow marine waters, with islets and skerries, tidal zones and a lagoon system with brackish as well as fresh water and rare flora. Wet salt-influenced meadows fringe the shorelines. The marine part of the Site is important as a staging, moulting and wintering area for several threatened species of waterbirds. A large population of the harbour porpoise Phoca vitulina breeds on the skerries, and the Site is also an important spawning area for the Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and the brown trout Salmo trutta. The human impact upon the Site is very limited; its uses include fishing, birdwatching and cloudberry picking.