The northernmost tip of Prins Karls Forland in Forlandet National Park
Map of protected areas of Svalbard. National parks in green, nature reserves in purple, geotope protection areas in orange, bird sanctuaries with a bird icon, islands in black and seas in blue.

Svalbard is an Arctic wilderness archipelago comprising the northernmost part of Norway. There are twenty-nine protected natural areas, consisting of seven national parks, six nature reserves, fifteen bird sanctuaries and one geotope protected area.[1] In addition, human traces dating from before 1946 are automatically protected.[2] The protected areas make up 39,800 square kilometers (15,400 sq mi) or 65% of the land area, and 78,000 square kilometers (30,000 sq mi) or 86.5% of the territorial waters. The largest protected areas are Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve and Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, which cover most of the areas east of the main island of Spitsbergen, including the islands of Nordaustlandet, Edgeøya, Barentsøya, Kong Karls Land and Kvitøya. Six of the national parks are located on Spitsbergen. Ten of the bird sanctuaries and the Moffen Nature Reserve are located within national parks. Five of the bird sanctuaries are Ramsar sites and fourteen of the bird sanctuaries are islands.[1] Svalbard is on Norway's tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[3]

The supreme responsibility for conservation lies with the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, which has delegated the management to the Governor of Svalbard and the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. The foundation for conservation was established in the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, and has been further specified in the Svalbard Environmental Act of 2001.[4] The first round of protection took force on 1 July 1973, when most of the current protected areas came into effect. This included the two large nature reserves and three of the national parks. Moffen Nature Reserve was established in 1983, followed by four national parks, three nature reserves and one geotope protection area between 2002 and 2005.[1]

Two primarily terrestrial mammalian species inhabit the archipelago: the Arctic fox and the Svalbard reindeer. There are 15 to 20 types of marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, and polar bears. About 30 types of bird are found on Svalbard, most of which are migratory. The Barents Sea is among the areas in the world with most seabirds, with about 20 million individuals during late summer. Sixteen bird species are on the IUCN Red List. In particular, Bjørnøya, Storfjorden, Nordvest-Spitsbergen and Hopen are important breeding grounds for seabirds. Svalbard has permafrost and tundra, with both low, middle and high Arctic vegetation. There have been found 165 species of plants on the archipelago,[1] although vegetation only covers 10% of the island group.[5] Low precipitation gives the archipelago a steppe climate; however plants still have good access to water because the cold climate reduces evaporation.[1][6] The growing season is very short, and may last only for a few weeks.[7]

National parks, nature reserves and geotope protection areas

The following lists contains all national parks, nature reserves and geotope protection areas in Svalbard. It includes the protected areas' name, type, total size, size of the land area and size of the marine area, excluding freshwater, in square kilometers and square miles.

Area Type Established Size
km2		 Size
sq mi		 Land
km2		 Land
sq mi		Marine
km2		 Marine
sq mi		 Ref
Bjørnøya Nature Reserve Nature reserve16 August 20022,981.3 1,151.1177 682,805 1,083[1][8]
Festningen Geotope Protected Area Geotope protection area26 September 200316.6 6.414 53 1[9]
Forlandet National Park National park1 July 19734,626.8 1,786.4616 2384,018 1,551[1][10]
Hopen Nature Reserve Nature reserve26 September 20033,185.6 1,230.046 183,140 1,210[1][11]
Indre Wijdefjorden National Park National park9 September 20051,127.1 435.2745 288382 147[1][12]
Moffen Nature Reserve Nature reserve3 June 19838.8 3.45 24 2[13]
Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve Nature reserve1 July 197355,354.3 21,372.418,663 7,20636,691 14,166[1][14]
Nordenskiöld Land National Park National park26 September 20031,362.3 526.0155 601,207 466[1][15]
Nordre Isfjorden National Park National park26 September 20032,952.1 1,139.82,050 790904 349[1][16]
Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park National park1 July 19739,870.5 3,811.03,684 1,4226,189 2,390[1][17]
Ossian Sars Nature Reserve Nature reserve26 September 200312.1 4.712 50 0[1][18]
Sassen-Bünsow Land National Park National park26 September 20031,230.5 475.11,157 44773 28[1][19]
Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve Nature reserve1 July 197321,825.9 8,427.015,426 5,95625,436 9,821[1][20]
Sør-Spitsbergen National Park National park1 July 197313,177.3 5,087.85,030 1,9408,198 3,165[1][21]

Bird sanctuaries

Long-tailed skua
Arctic tern

The following lists contains all bird sanctuaries in Svalbard. It includes the sanctuaries' names and total size in square kilometers and square miles. Bird sanctuaries that are also Ramsar sites are indicated. All bird sanctuaries were established on 1 July 1973.

† Ramsar sites
Area Size
km2		 Size
sq mi		 Ref
Blomstrandhamna Bird Sanctuary 0.6 0.23[22]
Boheman Bird Sanctuary 2.1 0.81[23]
Dunøyane Bird Sanctuary† 11.9 4.6[24]
Forlandsøyane Bird Sanctuary† 5.4 2.1[25]
Gåsøyane Bird Sanctuary† 2.4 0.93[26]
Guissezholmen Bird Sanctuary 0.4 0.15[27]
Hermansen Island Bird Sanctuary 4.2 1.6[28]
Isøyane Bird Sanctuary† 2.3 0.89[29]
Kapp Linné Bird Sanctuary 1.9 0.73[30]
Kongsfjorden Bird Sanctuary† 7.1 2.7[31]
Moseøya Bird Sanctuary 1.4 0.54[32]
Olsholmen Bird Sanctuary 0.5 0.19[33]
Plankeholmane Bird Sanctuary 1.6 0.62[34]
Skorpa Bird Sanctuary 1.1 0.42[35]
Sørkapp Bird Sanctuary 36.0 13.9[36]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Protected Areas in Svalbard". Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  2. ↑ Umbriet (2005): 132
  3. ↑ "Svalbard". UNESCO. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Backer, Inge Lorang. "Svalbardloven" (in Norwegian). Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  5. ↑ Torkilsen (1984): 144
  6. ↑ Torkilsen (1984): 101
  7. ↑ Umbreit (2005): 32
  8. ↑ "Bjørnøya naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "Festningen geotopvernområde" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  10. ↑ "Forlandet nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Hopen naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "Indre Wijdefjorde nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "Moffen naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "Nordaust-Svalbard naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  15. ↑ "Nordenskiöld Land nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  16. ↑ "Nordre Isfjorden nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "Nordvest-Spitsbergen nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  18. ↑ "Ossian Sars naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  19. ↑ "Sassen-Bünsow Land nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  20. ↑ "Søraust-Svalbard naturreservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  21. ↑ "Sør-Spitsbergen nasjonalpark" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  22. ↑ "Blomstrandhamna fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  23. ↑ "Boheman fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  24. ↑ "Dunøyane fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  25. ↑ "Forlandsøyane fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  26. ↑ "Gåsøyane fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  27. ↑ "Guissezholmen fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  28. ↑ "Hermansenøya fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  29. ↑ "Isøyane fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  30. ↑ "Kapp Linné fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  31. ↑ "Kongsfjorden fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  32. ↑ "Moseøya fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  33. ↑ "Olsholmen fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  34. ↑ "Plankeholmane fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  35. ↑ "Skorpa fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  36. ↑ "Sørkapp fuglereservat" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010.

Bibliography

  • Torkildsen, Torbjørn; et al. (1984). Svalbard: vårt nordligste Norge (in Norwegian). Oslo: Forlaget Det Beste. ISBN 82-7010-167-2.
  • Umbreit, Andreas (2005). Guide to Spitsbergen. Bucks: Bradt. ISBN 1-84162-092-0.

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