Ole Kristian Fauchald

The Norwegian reform of protected area management: a grand experiment with delegation of authority?

In 2009, the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) decided to embark on a reform of the governance of protected areas. The reform establishes more than 40 local management boards with extensive decision-making authority over much of Norways protected areas. The boards have management authority over clusters of national parks, protected landscapes, and nature reserves. The reform was initiated in a situation of considerable conflict regarding protected areas and where the environment to be protected was deemed threatened in over one-third of the cases. This article examines the implementation of the reform and discusses the implications for the balance between local user interests and long-term environmental interests, finding that the reform is likely to reduce conflict levels and increase the weight given to local user interests. Policy measures are suggested for strengthening long-term environmental interests and issues for further research are identified.

Internationalization of protected areas in Norway and Sweden: examining pathways of influence in similar countries

This study examines differences in how international regimes for the establishment and management of protected areas have been implemented in Norway and Sweden. We focus on regulatory and normative pathways of international influence, which mirror the distinction between legal and non-legal regimes in international environmental law. Sweden and Norway have essentially responded similarly to the regulatory regimes that apply to both countries. The more normative regimes have influenced them in different ways – primarily by strengthening traditional nature conservation norms in Sweden, and norms about sustainable use by local communities in Norway. The findings indicate that the normative pathway is important mainly as a support for domestic policies that correspond to existing national norms and discourses, and they support the proposition that a high degree of regulatory hardness contributes to increase the level and consistency of implementation.