Norway Closes Last Arctic Coal Mine, Turns Land Into ‘Best Managed’ National Park
Reprinted with permission from World in general, a news site on nature, politics, science, health and travel.
Norway is dismantling its last arctic coal mine piece by piece and turning the area it is in into a national park twice the size of Grand Teton in Wyoming.
The goal is to once again transform the Svalbard archipelago, especially the Van Mijenfjord, into a howling wilderness – the world’s best managed wilderness where polar bears, seals and countless other arctic species can thrive. in what experts say is one of the most resistant areas under the threat of climate change.
Seeds aren’t the only thing notoriously stored underground in Svalbard. Coal has been mined there under a state monopoly for 100 years. Despite the growing pressures of climate change throughout the 21st century, it was not until 2016 that a government white paper announced a moratorium.
Seven national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries, a geopark and six reserves dot two-thirds of the archipelago of 23,500 square miles (61,000 square km) of islands, fjords, mountains and glaciers. 3,000 polar bears inhabit the area, and at the end of summer, more than 20 million birds of 80 different species nest in Svalbard.
Van Mijen Fjord is covered with sea ice all year round and as such is an important hunting ground for bears. Deep in the fjord, the Svea mine has loaded ships with coal for generations, but is now dismembered rather than abandoned to return the area to a pristine natural state.
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A june press release by the Norwegian government announced that it was expanding the existing Nordenskiöld Land National Park to encompass the fjord, creating an additional 1,125 square miles (2,914 square kilometers) of wilderness known as Van Mijenfjorden National Park.
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“Our goal is for Svalbard to be one of the best managed wilderness areas in the world. This forces us to put in place measures to deal with climate change and the pressure caused by increased traffic. The protection of the Van Mijen fjord and its surroundings is a direct response to this, ”Minister Sveinung Rotevatn said in the same statement.
the borders of the new park lie atop the existing Sør-Spitsbergen National Park, making it easy for visitors to see both.
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