Protected areas, 31 December 2012

The total number of protected areas in Norway now exceeds 201 000, and covers more than 95 000 km² of the land area - equivalent to 25 per cent. Protected areas on the mainland made up 17 per cent and on Svalbard as much as 65 per cent of the land area. On Jan Mayen, almost 99 per cent of the land area is protected.

Two new national parks on the mainland

Fulufjellet national park consists of a continuous wide area without major infrastructure development in the county of Hedmark, of about 82.5 km². The most recent protected national park is Lahku. This park is located among the largest wilderness-like area in the county of Nordland, and is about 188 km². At the end of 2012, the national parks made up 10 per cent of the land area on the mainland. Only one of the national parks includes skerries, and there are very few fjords.

Overall, the national parks have increased by approximately 230 km² during the year. The largest national park on the mainland is Hardangervidda, with an area of about 3 445 km². Norway has 43 national parks; 36 on the mainland and 7 on Svalbard. The national parks make up the largest area out of the total protected areas, with 45 600 km², divided between just short of 31 300 km² on the mainland and approximately 14 400 km² on Svalbard.

Jan Mayen has one large continuous Nature reserve area

There were 3 new conservations of nature reserves on the mainland in 2012. These are Dronningberget and Hansåsen in Oslo municipality, and Fregn nature reserve in Trysil municipality. Nature reserves on the mainland make up a total of about 5 600 km², and cover approximately 2 per cent of the area. On Svalbard, the nature reserves cover more than 25 000 km², and form up to 41 per cent of the group of islands. The most frequently occurring category of conservation form is nature reserve on Svalbard. Jan Mayen has only one nature reserve, although it covers as much as 99 per cent of the land area. Nature reserves make up more than 31 000 km² or 8 per cent of the total area in Norway.

Number of registered cultural heritage objects dominates on the mainland

The amount of conservation objects in total is almost 198 000 on the mainland and Svalbard combined. Of these, more than 195 000 are located on the mainland, while Svalbard has only 3 500 cultural heritage objects. On Svalbard, most of them are located along the coast, while for the mainland it is the inland counties of Hedmark and Oppland that have the highest number of registered cultural heritage objects. However, the areas of cultural heritage objects make up an insignificant share of the total land area. Jan Mayen does not have any cultural heritage objects.

Highest number of protected cultural heritage dominates

Protected cultural heritage is the dominating category within cultural heritage in terms of number, both for the mainland and Svalbard. The total for protected cultural heritage is about 105 000, and this corresponds to 53 per cent of the total for cultural heritage. This is reflected in the distribution of protected cultural heritage on the mainland and Svalbard, where they make up 53 and 45 per cent respectively.

Buffer zones make up most of the area

Buffer zones make up an important part of the total area of conservation areas on the mainland as well as on Svalbard. The total area of buffer zones is more than 320 km². The county of Finnmark and Svalbard combined have up to 34 per cent of the total buffer zone area, with 53 km² and 56 km² respectively.

Not all counties have a protected cultural environment. Svalbard has neither a protected cultural environment nor a protection zone.