Marine planning
Presentation of the West and East Coast Planning Conference (3)
15th June 2022
The Icelandic National Planning Agency will hold a meeting on proposals for a coastal area plan for the Westfjords and Eastfjords, on Tuesday 9 August at 13:30. The meeting will take place in the building of the Icelandic National Planning Agency at Borgartún 7B and is open to all.
A stream will also be provided for attendees who are not visiting home.
Those who follow the stream can submit questions to the first speakers via the web. To do so, you need to go to the website and put the event’s code oceanography at the top of the website.
In recent years, extensive work has been done on the development of coastal planning for the Westfjords and Eastfjords. This work has included new developments in planning in Iceland, where planning has so far been limited to land, but has now expanded to the fjords and bays. In early summer 2022, proposals for the coastal planning of the Eastfjords and Westfjords were presented, which are being presented and reviewed until September.
The planning proposals are broadly concerned with maintaining a balance between exploitation and conservation. In the process of formulating the proposals, the existing decisions on permitted activities and conservation provisions in the areas and surrounding environment have been considered. The objective is to ensure a comprehensive vision and sustainable exploitation and to reduce conflicts of interest.
The planning proposals contain important innovations, such as defined criteria for safe shipping routes that were developed in good cooperation with the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, the Icelandic Coast Guard, the Icelandic Transport Authority, the port authorities and the ship captains. Other innovations that are worth mentioning are the preservation of large natural areas, for example, it is proposed to preserve Jökulfjörður and Loðmundarfjörður, along with Vík, as quiet wilderness areas.
Both of the planning proposals focus on sustainable development, resilience to societal and environmental changes, quality of life and competitiveness. The planning proposals focus on environmental monitoring and the maintenance of the best information on the status of marine ecosystems and quality of life in the coastal areas, to ensure sustainable use of marine resources.
The planning proposals and their environmental assessments can be accessed here. The deadline for submitting comments on the planning proposals is 15 September 2022.