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Europe’s highest sea cliff amongst beauty spots which could become Norway’s newest national parks

Norway's Hornelen, Summørsalpane, Masfjordfjella Øystesefjella could become national parks if a proposal to the Norwegian Environment Agency becomes a reality.

Europe’s highest sea cliff amongst beauty spots which could become Norway’s newest national parks
Photo by Torbjorn Sandbakk on Unsplash

The proposal follows a 2016 report to the Norwegian parliament on biodiversity and will be considered by the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

“In order for us to propose new national parks, there must be certain acceptance in the municipalities that are affected. Good dialogue with the municipalities is also absolutely crucial for any further processes,” Norwegian Environment Agency director, Ellen Hambro told NRK.

A number of proposals in the past have previously been rejected due to a lack of local support, but several municipal officials have already publicly backed the new plan.

“It’s a day of joy. It is fantastic that the landscape values and outdoor values are in these mountain areas are appreciated;” Helene Ødven from The Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT) told state broadcaster NRK.

“I got butterflies when I found out, we have been working on this for almost 40 years,” she said.

One of the candidates is Europe’s highest sea cliff, at 860 meters, Hornelen.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Hornelen (@hornelen.europes.tallest)

“As long as it is in accordance with what everything has been established by the industry, we would very much like to have it turned into a national park” said Anne Kristin Førde, mayor of the Bremanger municipality where Hornelen is.

National parks in Norway are protected, making it illegal to alter the landscape if it is not in the spirit of conservation. For example,  new roads and cabins may not be built, nor is it permitted to regulate watercourses.

There are currently 47 national parks in Norway.

READ MORE: ‘Out of this world’: Norwegian beach named ‘best in Europe’ 

“I am glad that the environmental authorities see the value of this area of untouched nature. This is an area that is important to take care of for the generations that come after us,” Sara Hamre Sekkingstad, mayor of Alver municipality, location of Masfjordfjella, told NRK.

If Masfjordfjella gets the protected status of a national park the mayor hopes it will prevent wind power being developed in the area.

“We are clearly against wind power in our mountain area, and we will remain so,” she said.

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FEATURE

Greenland foreign minister axed over independence remarks

Greenland's pro-independence foreign minister Pele Broberg was demoted on Monday after saying that only Inuits should vote in a referendum on whether the Arctic territory should break away from Denmark.

Greenland foreign minister axed over independence remarks
Greenland's pro-independence minister Pele Broberg (far R) with Prime Minister Mute Egede (2nd R), Danish foreign minister Jeppe Kofod and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R) at a press briefing in Greenland in May 2021. Photo: Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix

Prime Minister Mute Egede, who favours autonomy but not independence, said the ruling coalition had agreed to a reshuffle after a controversial interview by the minister of the autonomous Arctic territory.

Broberg was named business and trade minister and Egede will take on the foreign affairs portfolio.

The prime minister, who took power in April after a snap election, underscored that “all citizens in Greenland have equal rights” in a swipe at Broberg.

Broberg in an interview to Danish newspaper Berlingske said he wanted to reserve voting in any future referendum on independence to Inuits, who comprise more than 90 percent of Greenland’s 56,000 habitants.

“The idea is not to allow those who colonised the country to decide whether they can remain or not,” he had said.

In the same interview he said he was opposed to the term the “Community of the Kingdom” which officially designates Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, saying his country had “little to do” with Denmark.

Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 and became a semi-autonomous territory in 1979.

The Arctic territory is still very dependent on Copenhagen’s subsidies of around 526 million euros ($638 million), accounting for about a third of its budget.

But its geostrategic location and massive mineral reserves have raised international interest in recent years, as evidenced by former US president Donald Trump’s swiftly rebuffed offer to buy it in 2019.

READ ALSO: US no longer wants to buy Greenland, Secretary of State confirms

Though Mute Egede won the election in April by campaigning against a controversial uranium mining project, Greenland plans to expand its economy by developing its fishing, mining and tourism sectors, as well as agriculture in the southern part of the island which is ice-free year-round.

READ ALSO: Danish, Swiss researchers discover world’s ‘northernmost’ island

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