| Summary | Outlines which types of activities are permitted on Svalbard and which are not. This Act affords the Governor discretionary powers to interpret the Act for individual cases. |
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| Project | SESMAD |
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| Subtype | Formal Governance System |
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| Sector | Marine protected areas |
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| Begin Date | 2002 |
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| Explanation | The Act of 2001 came into effect on July 1, 2002. |
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| End Date | 2012 |
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| Explanation | The Svalbard Environmental Protection Act is ongoing and has not been superseded. The specific regulations, however, have been modified. The first management plan for these reserves was created in 2013, which provides a more detailed outline of how the Nature Reserves should be managed, and new regulations were implemented in 2014. These regulations must be in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act. |
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| Governance Scale | State-based policy |
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| Explanation | State-based policy |
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| Governance System Description | {"System of Laws"=>"Nature Reserves regulations (1973) and the Svalbard Environmental Act (2002)"} |
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| Explanation | the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act of 2001 (which came into effect in 2002) outlines a goal for Svalbard to be ‘one of the best managed wilderness areas in the world’. The Governance System has regulations specifically pertaining to the main actors on Svalbard and to the species of conservation interest. |
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| Governance Trigger | Not Applicable |
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| Explanation | |
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| Type Of Formal Governance | System of laws |
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| Explanation | The first laws were established with the parks creation in 1973. The Svalbard Environmental Protection Act in 2001 further elaborates on these initial regulations. |
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| Mpa Internal Natural Boundaries | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | The Nature Reserves, which protect both land and sea regions, are based more around terrestrial geography (the islands) than on oceanic ecology. Boundaries in the marine zone merely follow 12nm around the islands which are protected. |
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| Mpa Migratory Life History | Breeding |
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| Explanation | In Svalbard the kittiwake is a common breeding species in all parts of the archipelago. It can be observed in all coastal areas as well as at sea, even in ice-filled waters. The largest colonies are found on Bjørnøya and Hopen. About 215 colonies are known in Svalbard.
The coastal regions near freshwater inputs and glaciers are important for foraging for Beluga (Lyderson et al 2001) |
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| Mpa Threats To Migratory Sp | [""] |
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| Explanation | In Svalbard (+ other polar regions) the main threats are from pollution and climate change. Due to global circulation patterns, polar regions have a disproportionately high pollution load - although difficult to quantify, pollution burdens are thought to reduce fitness – and have been attributed to the declines in some seabirds. Since the polar regions are likely to experience the greatest warming from climate change, shifting locations of fish species (prey) may be problematic. Historically, whaling was presented considerable threat, but it was banned in 1961. Tourism can be a threat at a variety of scales- this is managed and monitored on Svalbard, but more site-specific data is needed (Hagan et al 2012). |
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| Mpa Threats | Climate change; pollution; tourism disturbance |
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| Explanation | In polar regions such as Svalbard, the main current threats are due from pollution and climate change. Historically, whaling was presented considerable threat to belugas, but it has been banned in Svalbard since 1961. Due to global circulation patterns, polar regions have a disproportionately high pollution load. Although difficult to quantify, pollution burdens are thought to reduce fitness.
Tourism can be a threat at a variety of scales- this is managed and monitored on Svalbard, but more site-specific data is needed (Hagan et al 2012). |
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| Governance Knowledge Use | ["", "Scientific knowledge"] |
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| Explanation | The Nature Reserves relies on scientific knowledge, and has a formal monitoring system (MOSJ). Note: Svalbard does not have an indigenous population.
A variety of indicators are monitored: http://www.mosj.no/en/indicators/
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| Pa Car Principles | No (1) |
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| Explanation | These reserves were created in 1973, before these principles had become commonplace. |
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| Centralization | Highly centralized (4) |
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| Explanation | Regulations were instituted from the central government, and local people/users did not have direct input into the regulations. |
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| Distance To Markets | Between 100km-1000km (3) |
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| Explanation | The closest mainland town to Svalbard is Tromso (about 33,000 people), which is 900km away.
The distance from Svalbard to Oslo (the capital and largest city of Norway) is about 2000km. |
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| Horizontal Coordination | Formal |
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| Explanation | |
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| Mpa Iucn Somewhat Strict Zones | % |
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| Explanation | |
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| Mpa Iucn Sustainable Zones | % |
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| Explanation | |
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| Mpa Budget | Missing |
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| Explanation | Unknown |
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| Mpa Connectivity | No (1) |
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| Explanation | No information found which addresses connectivity considerations. |
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| Mpa Migratory Threats And Redux | Habitat Protection Harvesting/Hunting Protection |
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| Explanation | There is good protection of important breeding grounds - about 215 kittiwake colonies are known in Svalbard. All traffic is forbidden in bird sanctuaries between 15 May and 15 August. Environmental protection has priority over natural resource extraction, and tourism is managed and monitored. There is limited monitoring/baseline data for many of the migratory species known to be found in Svalbard. The Nature Reserves offer large, relative intact areas with habitat protection for numerous migratory species. Within the Nature Reserves, migratory bird species are also protected against disturbance and harvesting of any kind (including eggs). For whale species, Norwegian regulations prohibit hunting anywhere within Norwegian waters, and therefore any benefits from the Reserves may be limited to habitat protection. However, the regions within the Nature Reserves may receive considerable ‘de facto’ habitat protection since these areas are far from the main town of Longyearbyen and sea-ice sometimes makes travel difficult. |
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| Mpa Motivation | [""] |
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| Explanation | These parks were created by the recognition of large intact habitat in the polar environment. |
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| Mpa Primary Goal (In Practice) | [""] |
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| Explanation | The Reserves are designed to protect a large, continuous, and mainly undisturbed wilderness area with intact biotypes, ecosystems, and species (Sysselmannen på Svalbard 2013b ). They also aim to protect nesting sites for seabirds, walrus haul-outs, and polar bear habitat. |
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| Mpa Protection | ["", "Encompassing entire habitat"] |
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| Explanation | The Nature Reserves protect a large range of intact habitat.
They also limit threats from disturbance by people, and for sea-birds, they reduce threats from hunting/harvesting.
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| Metric Diversity | High: Many metrics for success (3) |
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| Explanation | The Environmental Protection Act and the Regulations of 1973 specify what is and is not allowed within the Nature Reserves. Therefore, there are no formal “goals for management” for which to gauge success.
The ongoing monitoring program does keep track of a few metrics for each of several species (e.g. number of dens, litter size, cub survival for polar bears). The Governor also collects information of many social indicators on Svalbard. Despite the lack of formal management goals, there are many metrics of success (including various species of marine fauna, pollution levels, hunting, fishing, cruise traffic, etc.). |
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| Pa Iucn Strict Zones | 0 % |
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| Explanation | Although these Nature Reserves are listed as a Ib on websites such as the WDPA, this may reflect a difference between terrestrial and marine landscapes. Commercial fishing is permitted within the nature reserves (although in practice it occurs in very small amounts), along with tourism. Based on the IUCN Guidelines for applying categories to MPAs, these reserves seem to be more in line with Category VI. |
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| Social Ecological Fit | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | The Governance System has regulations specifically pertaining to the main actors on Svalbard and to the species of conservation interest. Consultations for the first management plan highlighted a few differences of opinion – namely that the scientific/education community advocated for special areas for research, while the tourism community protested against any stricter regulations or no-go zones.
The new management plan introduced a few Zones into the Nature Reserves, but did not fundamentally alter the management, suggesting that the Governance System is a good socio-ecological fit.
We should note however, that this Governance System does not address impacts from climate change and pollution, which are considered high threats to the system, but which largely originate beyond the borders of the Nature Reserves. |
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| Mpa Migratory Benefit | Yes |
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| Explanation | There is good protection of important breeding grounds - about 215 kittiwake colonies are known in Svalbard. All traffic is forbidden in bird sanctuaries between 15 May and 15 August. Environmental protection has priority over natural resource extraction, and tourism is managed and monitored. However, there is limited monitoring/baseline data for many of the migratory species known to be found in Svalbard.
Out of four species of migratory seabirds, two populations are considered stable, while two populations are declining (MOSJ 2013 b) - the declines in some of the bird populations are unknown, but are thought to be linked to pollutants (e.g., glaucous gull)
Full list of monitored indicators: http://www.mosj.no/en/indicators/ |
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| Governance System Spatial Extent | 36268 |
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| Explanation | Combined area of North and South Nature Reserves (North: 14,443km2; South: 21,825km2) |
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