26/01/2005 - The Icelandic
government has announced plans to create
Europe's largest national park, protecting
some the island-nation's key habitats and
natural landscapes.
Covering more than than 10,000 km2 – nearly
one tenth of Iceland’s land area — the proposed
national park will include the Joekulsa
a Fjoellum watershed, encompassing the largest
free-flowing rivers in Iceland, and will
protect the central highland glaciers to
the northern coastline of Iceland, where
it forms a rich delta, teeming with shorebirds
and other wildlife.
"This is very good news," said
Arni Finnsson, the Director of the Iceland
Nature Conservation Association (INCA).
"Icelanders, and the many visitors
to this magnificent island, can now rejoice
in knowing that future generations will
be able to experience the power of a naturally
flowing glacial river. They will not only
find ice and snow protected, but also habitats
important to birds and other wildlife, and
some of Iceland’s richest and most diverse
natural landscapes."
WWF has been working together with INCA
for years to get increased protection of
Iceland's highlands, as well as been critical
of government policies to dam and divert
many of the countries rivers for hydropower
development. There are very few large rivers
remaining in Iceland that are either not
already developed or slated for development.
"WWF has campaigned against Iceland’s
decision to build an enormous hydropower
project that harnessed two of the three
largest rivers in the north," said
Samantha Smith, Director of WWF’s International
Arctic Programme.
"The environmental consequences of
that project are already serious. So it’s
a fantastic change to be able to celebrate
protection of Iceland’s biggest remaining
wild river."
