AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.12.2003, Qupperneq 59

Rauðbrystingur /Red Knot
Through this action, nearly 70-90%
of the habitat of these species will be
in preservation areas, except for the
habitats of the grágæsa og
heiðagæsa, where preservation
reaches 10-25%. In addition,
enlargement of the National Parks of
Jökulsáargljúfur and Skaftafell is pro-
posed in order to make them more
complete.
In the plant-areas of Látraströnd-
Náttfaravík, Njarðvík and
Loðmundarfjörður, the growing areas
of more than 30 rare plants are being
preserved. In Vatnshornsskógur, the
goal is to preserve unspoiled,
beautiful, tall and vigorous remnants
of the birch woods of Western
lceland.
The areas with the most important
geological remains, Geysir and
Reykjanes, Eldvörp and Hafnarberg
are of undisputed geological impor-
tance. Geysir, from whence the
English word geyser originates, is
perhaps the best-known phenome-
non of lceland, while Reykjanes
marks the continuation of the
Atlantic Ridge and the only place
where it is not under the sea.
It is necessary to bear in mind that
these areas are defined without
co-operation of the landowners or
local authorities, and other land-uses
have not been taken into account.
Once the Nature Preservation Policy
has been debated on and approved
in Parliament, one of the main tasks
of the Environment and Food Agency
will be to seek an agreement with
landowners and local authorities as
to how the areas will be defined,
what regulations shall be adopted,
and other aspects of the preserva-
tion. During this process, the goal will
be how the preservation of these
areas will best be secured.
In the area Álftanes and Skerjafjörður
(Picture 1), the goal is to secure
the habitat and resting place of cer-
tain species of birds. The areas are
also home to certain rare plant
species. The most important and
most sensitive areas have to be
defined and a high degree of preser-
vation has to be secured. Other
edge areas should also be defined,
which do not need to be preserved
to the same extent and may possibly
be put to other uses without detri-
ment to the preservation policy. ■
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