New National Park To Open In Westfjords

The Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources wants to establish a new national park in the Westfjords, RÚV reported this morning. The plan is to open the park on June 17th next year.

This would be the first national park on Vestfjarðakjálki, and would contain the Dynjandi waterfall and Surtarbrandsgil ravine. It would also include Vatnsfjörður, Geirþjófsfjörður, and Hrafnseyri by Arnarfjörður.

Guðmundur I. Guðbrandsson, Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, describes it as the perfect combination. “It mixes elements that are taken into account when establishing national parks: both unique nature and also history and culture.”

Rebekka Hilmarsdóttir, mayor of Vesturbyggð, is a fan of the proposed plans, but adds that it will be necessary to make sure the national park doesn’t hinder development, for example the planned year-round road through Dynjandisheiði.

According to Guðmundur, infrastructure and the national park can go well together and roads are being built in many of Iceland’s national parks. “You just have to make sure that we try to minimize disruption as much as possible and that the road fits in as well as possible with the existing landscape,” he said. “I just hope that we will be able to work according to this plan quickly and safely, but it will certainly be done with great care.”

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