Signing of cooperation agreement
Back from left: Ingrid Dixon, Glacier Bay National Park Service (GLNPS), Scott Gende, GLNPS, Katrin Blomvik, Vestnorsk fjordlandskap (VNF), Erling Oppheim, VNF and Leif Inge Underdal, VNF. Front from left at the table: Superintendent Philip Hooge, GLNPS, and Arne Sandnes, Chair of the World Heritage Council.
Photo:UNESCO/Daniel Correia.
Signing of a cooperation agreement between the world heritage sites Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, and West Norwegian Fjord Landscape, Norway.
The Glacier Bay, Alaska, fjord and world heritage sites of the National Park Service and the West Norwegian Fjord Landscape of the World Heritage Council signed a joint cooperation agreement in front of Lamplugh Glacier on Saturday, September 7th.
"It is truly a historic event that these unique World Heritage sites are now formally strengthening their cooperation with the aim of preserving and developing the most beautiful fjord landscapes on the planet," says Arne Sandnes, head of the World Heritage Council.
The cooperation agreement is the result of a process that began after a request from UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris and first initial contact in 2010. This contact laid the foundation for a visit from Glacier Bay to the Geirangerfjord area and the Nærøyfjord area in 2015 and with a follow-up visit to the West Norwegian fjord landscape in 2016. The latter was a strong motivation for the World Heritage Council's push towards national governments and the Norwegian Maritime Directorate for better management of the World Heritage fjords. This has so far resulted in a regulation that more strictly regulates emissions to the sea and air from cruise ships.
In addition to a goal of better management of the cruise industry in an environmentally and sustainably oriented direction, the cooperation agreement has the ambition to strengthen the management of the World Heritage fjords through the exchange of knowledge and experiences related to dissemination/interpretation, the involvement of children and young people, and local community development/collaboration between a number of different actors.
Contact info:
- Arne Sandnes, head of the World Heritage Council for the Western Norwegian Fjord Landscape,
arne.sandnes@norddal.kommune.no tel: +47 976 69 990.
- Erling Oppheim, world heritage secretary, erling@naroyfjorden.no, tel: +47 95 17 25 95.
- Katrin Blomvik, world heritage secretary, katrin@verdsarvfjord.no, tel. +47 95 42 73 90.
Superintendent Philip Hooge, GLNPS, and Arne Sandnes, head of the World Heritage Council.
Photo: UNESCO/ Daniel Correia