Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to address this conference on Nature and People which is being held on the initiative of Scottish Natural Heritage to mark the International Year of Mountains in 2002. I was particularly honoured when my fellow countryman, Magnus Magnusson, founder Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage, invited me last winter to come to this conference, which I value tremendously.
My country and Scotland have shared both a history and a heritage for more than a thousand years. The ancient Icelandic Sagas describe how the Vikings stopped in the British Isles and how people from settlements there migrated to Iceland. Genetic studies of Icelanders confirm our kinship with the Scots. The relationship is even more profound with Icelandic women who have inherited both strength and integrity from their Scottish ancestors. ( Well, I would say that, wouldn`t I ?). Last month we enjoyed in our capital, Reykjavik, a most memorable invasion of Scots who came to watch the two friendly nations play each other in the European Championship football. Not only did we Icelanders come second best on the football field but also in the pubs where joy and happiness dominated hundreds of kilted Scots. So there are still a few things that we can learn from you.


“International Year of Mountains 2002”
It is very proper to dedicate this year to mountains, and especially the importance of mountains for environmental issues and sustainable development. Mountains play a much more extensive role in people’s lives than we generally realise. As we know from poetry, other literature and the visual arts, mountains have always provided creative inspiration, but they also have a variety of practical functions for human life. To a large extent mountains govern precipitation and the weather, they are the source of our freshwater resources, they contain a large part of the world’s biological diversity and genetic resources, they sustain extensive forests and provide for the food for millions of people who live in mountain regions. Mountains attract millions of tourists in all continents of the world. Increased tourism can have a positive impact on mountainous areas, but it must be ensured that such tourism will develop on sustainable principles. So it is doubly apt that 2002 is also the International Year of Ecotourism.
To mark the International Year of Mountains, Iceland has organised a variety of events, issued a special postage stamp, and arranged a competition in schools which involved hiking in the mountains, writing about them and recognising them. A nationwide election was held for the title of “Iceland’s favourite mountain,” which was won by Mt. Herðubreið with an overwhelming majority (The Broad Shoulder Mountain).

The mountains of Iceland
Herðubreið may not be widely known outside Iceland, and although Iceland’s mountains are not the biggest in Europe, some of them have still managed to capture people’s imaginations elsewhere in Europe. In medieval times, it was commonly believed in northern Europe that the volcano Hekla was the entrance to hell, from where you could occasionally hear the cries of the grilled souls of the damned. The English swearword “heck” derives from the name of this supposedly hellish mountain. ( That is our story and we are sticking to it). Another Icelandic mountain, Snæfellsjökull, is the starting point in Jules Verne’s novel, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. This classic cone-shaped volcano, which can be seen from Reykjavík on a clear day, is now protected as part of Iceland’s newest National Park which I had the privilege to open last year.
Modern science has found no evidence that you can enter the Earth’s centre or hell itself through Icelandic mountains, but they remain a central part of the Icelandic identity and a dominant feature of the island’s geography. Iceland is largely highland. Some 60% of the country is at an elevation above 300-400 m, often referred to as the Central Highlands. To all intents and purposes the highlands are uninhabited, yet provide an important foundation for our everyday life. Despite that fact there has always been a touch of mystique surrounding the Icelandic mountains, we have an old Icelandic expression when someone is totally away with the fairies that he or she has just come down from the mountains.


Iceland’s highlands and mountains play a major role in the sustainable development of Icelandic society. The highlands are Iceland’s water supply and play a key role in its hydrology. The Central Highlands also represent a resource for renewable energy from glacial rivers and geothermal fields. An important part of Iceland’s biological diversity thrives there, with a variety of habitat types and many species that are not found anywhere else in the country. Because of their unusual natural beauty, the highlands offer a wide range of outdoor leisure options which are rare in Europe. Virtually untouched wilderness is found there, including one of Europe’s largest wilderness areas.
The great potential for harnessing renewable energy in the Central Highlands has received increased attention by the energy sector recently at the same time as public demand for protecting the Central Highlands has been growing. Therefore work was launched on drawing up a framework plan for hydro and geothermal utilisation in 1999, the first phase of which is now being completed with the assessment and prioritisation of 25 harnessing options. This work aims at putting power development and nature conservation in a sensible order of priority. Work is also in progress on producing the first nature conservation programme for Iceland as a whole, which I will present to parliament this winter. This will emphasise the conservation of biological diversity, Icelandic nature forms, geological relics and the main habitat types, and will propose preservation orders for the areas which are considered most important in this respect.
Iceland’s tourist industry has developed rapidly and over the past three decades the number of visitors from abroad has grown fivefold, to more than 300,000 a year. Highland and mountain travel has grown enormously both in winter and summer, and sustainable tourism has been gaining a firmer foothold. Growth in highland tourist traffic has been accompanied by more demand for developing accommodation facilities there. At the same time, greater awareness and focus on conservation has seen major natural treasures placed under protection orders. Today, 22 areas of the highlands are protected, accounting for 16% of Iceland’s total highland area.
Planning of the Central Highlands
When the Ministry for the Environment was established, in 1990, two issues dominated all dialogue on protection and utilisation of the highlands. One was the lack of planning or coordinated administration for the highlands, and the other was great uncertainty concerning ownership of the area. A systematic approach to resolve the question of the highlands was widely seen as a matter of national importance.
One of the first major tasks at the Ministry for the Environment was to establish a comprehensive plan for the Central Highlands, which involved achieving cooperation with municipal authorities on harmonising and approving a regional plan for it. Planning work took seven years and was completed in 1999. The Central Highlands plan addresses all aspects of planning, protection and utilisation of the region until the year 2015, guided by the principle of sustainability.
In order to dispel uncertainties about land ownership, the government decided to establish a formal process for addressing all disputes concerning the boundaries between private and public lands. The Public Lands Act which came into force in July 1998, established a committee which has effective judicial status, a sort of “land court”. The committee has already completed its first rulings on private land boundaries in south Iceland but it is evident that it will take many years before it completes its coverage of the whole country.

Vatnajökull National Park
But what are the plans for ensuring the sustainable development of Iceland`s Mountains? The Ministry for the Environment has put forward plans involving a substantial increase in protected highland areas in the years to come. Preparations are under way for a protection order for Vatnajökull ice cap, which is the largest glacier in Europe. After that is done, some 20% of the surface area of Iceland will have been protected by law, compared with only 12% today. The Government decided in 2000 to begin preparations for the establishment of the biggest national park in Europe, encompassing the whole of Vatnajökull, which it is hoped will open next year. Preparations to establish the national park are well under way and strong emphasis in that work has been on good co-operation with municipal authorities, landowners and local parties with vested interests.
In my opinion, it is essential for the successful handling of a matter of this kind, to conduct the protection process in the best possible accord with the local people. We are now examining the possibility of extending Vatnajökull National Park beyond the ice cap to include the areas on the rim of the glacier, many of which have a high nature protection value. With the establishment of Vatnajökull National Park, almost 40% of Iceland’s Central Highlands will be protected in one way or another. It will be a truly unique park, with contrasting extremes of ice and fire: Europe’s largest glacier located above one of the most active volcanic spots on Earth.
Nordic cooperation – Scotland
Mr. Chairman, as Minister for Nordic co-operation I would like to say a few words on possible future co-operation around the North Atlantic Region. The five Nordic countries, plus Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands, have been engaged in close cooperation on environmental issues for decades, in the forum of the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. Lately the Nordic countries have been taking a growing interest in cooperation with their western neighbours, especially Scotland. In fact the countries in the West Nordic zone have shown great interest for some time, as witnessed by two Nordic conferences which have included delegates from the Scottish mainland and islands. The first conference, held in Reykjavík in 1999, addressed in general terms the possibilities for co-operation and the second one, in the Faroe Islands in 2001, focused on protection of the North Atlantic.
Last month, the Ministers for Nordic Cooperation appointed a committee with the task of putting forward proposals, before the middle of next year, for cooperation with adjacent western regions. This refers above all to Scotland, not least Orkney and Shetland, and North East Canada. Iceland firmly supports increased cooperation on environmental issues between these countries and I hope the committee will present proposals which we can use to boost broad environmental co-operation.
For decades, Iceland has benefited from close contact with Scottish Natural Heritage, both on nature conservation issues in the broadest sense and also in the fields of land reclamation and forestation. Good cooperation has been maintained between SNH and Iceland’s Nature Conservation Agency, in the form of visits, meetings and talks about monitoring and conservation of protected natural areas. An employee of the Nature Conservation Agency has been working with the SNH to gain knowledge and experience in the design of conservation and management plans. I trust that SNH has relished these contacts as we have in Iceland, and that they will continue.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:
Mountains must play an increasing role in the future development of conditions for life on Earth. People and mountains are in a much closer relationship than we tend to recognise. This means that mountain ecosystems are a factor we need to consider much more closely when we decide on action to ensure the sustainable development of our society. Therefore I pay tribute to Scottish Natural Heritage for their initiative in holding this conference to put the spotlight on mountains and the related environmental challenges we all face. I hope that by the time we leave Pitlochry tomorrow night we shall all have a clearer view of how we can enhance living conditions on Earth. It should be our aim to devise an array of constructive measures which will allow people and nature to live in harmony with the natural environment of our beloved mountains.