Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins, and porpoises: a world ...

114 Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises
on better protection for Svalbard. In 1999, responding to the government’s
proposal for a new Svalbard environmental law and the proposals for new
protected areas, WWF initiated a campaign to protect all of Svalbard as one
national park which would protect the entire archipelago under a single
management regime.
Reaction to the Svalbard National Park proposal was predictably mixed,
but the Norwegian parliament in 2000 affirmed the planned improvement of
the environmental protection of the archipelago and left the door open to
significant further protection, without accepting the ‘one national park’
proposal (Humphreys and Prokosch, 2000; Hansson, 2000).
Meantime, a new Svalbard Environmental Protection Act has been put
in place which brings together all environmental regulations for Svalbard
under one act and, among other things, gives protection to sea mammal
species ‘belonging to the ecosystem’ which includes belugas. Belugas are also
protected under the Game Regulation for Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Migrating
sea mammal species, however, such as minke whales and harp seals, are not
included but are protected within the territorial waters surrounding protected
areas. At present, the hunting of minke whales occurs mainly off the
Norwegian mainland.
Since 2000, the Svalbard ‘one national park’ idea has quietly receded into
the background but it fulfilled an important role, helping to push the issue of
more comprehensive protection. WWF’s goal with the ‘one national park’
proposal was to save Svalbard’s wilderness from being fragmented and
destroyed. That is, arguably, now close to being achieved (Norris, 2003).
In late 2003, news came that five new protected areas were being created
in Svalbard, including three national parks and an important island nature
reserve at Hopen Island. This has effectively extended the land-based
protection to a further 1717 mi 2 (4449 km 2 ) of Svalbard. However, more
good news came in December 2003 with Norway’s decision to extend the
territorial boundaries of Svalbard from 4 to 12 nm (7.4 to 22.2 km). This
effectively expands all of Svalbard’s coastal national park and nature reserves,
adding 15,830 mi 2 (41,000 km 2 ) of coastal waters to the protected areas of
Svalbard, an area the size of Switzerland. This important Arctic MPA
development could benefit Svalbard’s cetaceans.
Much work remains to be done to sort out boundaries, management,
enforcement and other issues. Svalbard, with its assortment of national
parks, nature reserves and other protected areas, may have a complicated
protection regime. But it nevertheless appears that the unsuccessful ‘one
national park’ proposed for Svalbard has become a success story for marine
and land-based protection in the Arctic. Svalbard is on its way to becoming
the dreamed-of ‘best-managed Arctic wilderness’.