National parks of Norway
Norway has 44 national parks, of which 37 are on the mainland and 7 on Svalbard. National parks in Norway are stricter than many other countries, and nearly all motorized vehicles are prohibited. The freedom to roam applies, thus hiking, skiing and camping throughout the park are permitted, given that consideration to nature is taken. Roads, accommodation and national park centers are located outside the national parks. The parks are under the management of the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management and the local county governor.
Ytre Hvaler is a marine park and all parks in Svalbard also contain marine areas. Sør-Spitsbergen is the largest park, covering an area of 13,286 km2 (5,130 sq mi), although only 5,141 km2 (1,985 sq mi) is land. The largest park on the mainland is Hardangervidda, which covers an area of 3,422 km2 (1,321 sq mi). Gutulia is the smallest, covering 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi).
At least 60% of Norway's area is mountainous, lakes or bogs (non-arable land, some of it is used as pastures); 37% is forest of various kinds; and only 3% arable land. It is estimated that between 1900 and 2003 areas more than 5 km from intense construction activity has decreased from 48% to 12% in Norway.
Until about one hundred years ago there was relatively little threat to ecosystems in Norway. The first initiatives to protect land were voiced in 1904, by Yngvar Nielsen, leader of the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT). The association continued to lobby cases in 1923 and 1938. The natural protection act of 1954 prepared a legal basis for establishing protection areas, and the two first national parks were established in 1962 and 1963. The act of 1954 also established Statens naturvernråd ("Governmental Natural protection council") as an advisory body for the government. The council presented a draft for further natural protecting in 1964, suggesting 16 national parks. These suggestions were approved by Stortinget. It took 25 years, until 1989, before 15 of their suggestions were fulfilled. The 16th suggestion became a naturreservat. The council presented another suggestion in 1986, and this was approved by Stortinget in April 1993. Following this approval, a "second generation" of national parks, as well as expanding borders for the elder, were established from 2001.
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