Subordinate agencies

The Directorate for Nature Management

The Directorate for Nature Management is the Ministry of the Environment´s advisory and executive body in the area of nature management. The Directorate possesses multidisciplinary expertise in the fields of ecology, land-use management and outdoor recreation, and is a theme centre for data-based information on ecology and biology. The Directorate has a broad overview of the state of the natural environment and is authorized to issue instructions to the County Departments of Environmental Affairs in areas relating to nature management.

The Directorate for Nature Management is working to preserve biodiversity and to protect and strengthen public rights.

The main strategies to achieve the objectives are to:

safeguard the breadth of variation of Norway´s natural environment and landscape and maintain the natural production capacity
ensure that consideration for the long-term use of natural resources is taken into account in connection with land-use and watercourse planning and plans that affect the natural environment
promote opportunities to use nature for outdoor recreation, training and harvesting
procure and disseminate knowledge as the basis for active and preventive nature management.

The Norwegian Nature Inspectorate´s role and responsibilities

The Norwegian Nature Inspectorate was established pursuant to an Act of 21 June 1996 for the purpose of coordinating central government inspectorate efforts. The Norwegian Nature Inspectorate shall create understanding and respect for the rules and regulations that exist in this area and work to prevent environmental crime The primary functions will be to provide information and guidance in addition to the control, registration, documentation, management and operation of protected areas. Emphasis will be placed on establishing good cooperation with other organizations involved in nature management where, in particular, coordination with the police will be important in terms of control functions. The Inspectorate is part of the Directorate for Nature Management, but most of the work will be carried out locally in areas where the need for additional inspection is greatest.

Directorate for Nature Management
7005 Trondheim, Norway
Telephone: +47 73 58 05 00
Fax: +47 73 58 05 01
E-mail: postmottak@dirnat.no
Internet: http://english.dirnat.no/

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is responsible for the management of cultural heritage and is the Ministry of the Environment´s advisory and executive body for the management of architectural and archeological monuments and sites and cultural environments. The Directorate is responsible for making a professional contribution to the Ministry´s work relating to the protection of cultural monuments as an integrated part of environmental policy. The Directorate also has an advisory function for other parts of the public administration, the general public and the business sector. In matters where the Directorate exercises authority pursuant to special legislation, both cultural heritage and other considerations of importance to society shall be used as a basis for the decisions.

The responsibility for the implementation of national cultural heritage policy is vested with the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, which in this connection has overriding responsibility for the work of the counties, the administrative museums, the Governor´s Office on Svalbard and the Council for Sami Cultural Heritage as regional cultural heritage authorities. The Directorate shall initiate special measures to encourage municipalities to take necessary account of cultural monuments and cultural environments as important elements and – resources in their surroundings.

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage shall safeguard cultural monuments and cultural environments as important values in terms of knowledge, experience and use, and shall also contribute to providing a solid foundation for the sustainable use of natural resources and cultural monuments in a constantly changing society. The goal must be that changes must result in a minimal loss of cultural heritage values.

The main strategies to achieve the objectives are to:

ensure that cultural monuments and cultural environments are used and managed in such a way that their values are preserved and activated as contributions to sustainable development
ensure that the protection of cultural monuments and cultural environments have considerable geographical, social, ethnical and temporal breadth
ensure that cultural monuments and cultural environments are taken into account in connection with the use of land, the design of construction projects and relevant conversions and extensions
participate in international cooperation in order to contribute to safeguarding cultural rights, exchanging knowledge and establishing the protection of cultural heritage as an important element of cross-sectoral environmental protection.

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage
P.O. Box 8196 Dep.
0034 Oslo, Norway
Telephone: +47 22 94 04 00
Fax: +47 22 94 04 04
E-mail: riksantikvaren@ra.no
Internet: http://www.ra.no/english/

The Norwegian Polar Institute

The Norwegian Polar Research Institute is the central state institution for the mapping and scientific investigations in polar regions, in addition to serving as the professional and strategic advisor for the central administration on environmental affairs in Norwegian polar regions. The Institute also serves as professional advisor for the Directorate for Nature Management, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage and the Governor on Svalbard. The Institute is responsible for the follow-up and implementation of Norwegian environmental legislation in the Antarctic.

The Institute plays a key role in the Polar Environment Centre and is an active participant in the development and implementation of research cooperation at the centre. The Institute participates in international polar research fora and is responsible for scientific programmes as an independent research institution. It serves as an international contact on polar issues and channels information between Norwegian and international research institutions.

The role and functions of the Norwegian Polar Institute are based on the combined expertise it has developed in the field of polar environmental research, mapping and logistics. The Institute´s professional expertise and activities relate to biodiversity, climate and environmentally hazardous substances in the northern and polar regions.

The main strategies to achieve the objectives are to:

obtain and disseminate knowledge as a basis for active and preventive environmental protection efforts in northern and polar regions
provide access to its collection of polar history and its library for studies of Norwegian and international polar history, among others for external researchers
topographic and geological mapping of Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Norwegian land areas in the Antarctic, in addition to the production of geophysical maps
through its logistics resources, the Institute shall organize its own field of activities and offer joint services to Norwegian polar researchers
In addition, the Institute shall help to ensure that both national and international research projects on Svalbard promote the national interests of the archipelago.

The Norwegian Polar Institute
Polarmiljøsenteret, 9296 Tromsø
Telephone: 77 75 05 00
Fax: 77 75 05 01
E-mail: info@npolar.no
Internet: http://npiweb.npolar.no/

The Norwegian Mapping Authority

The Norwegian Mapping Authority is responsible for providing nationwide geographic information and services to private and public users. It also serves as the central government´s professional body in the area of maps and geodata and handles the administrative tasks associated with this. The Mapping Authority also participates in R&D in the area of mapping technology and cooperates with Norwegian industry and other government agencies in areas such as export-oriented measures.

The Norwegian Mapping Authority will in the years ahead focus on its role as data manager, while data compilation and data transmission will be handled to a greater extent by external organizations or in cooperation with other agencies. Traditional printed maps are marketed and sold through a number of dealers. So far the Mapping Authority has largely supplied digital data directly to users, whereas the plans now entail that this will be carried out to a greater extent through dealers. Emphasis will be placed on producing a greater number of products for use in simple and less expensive mapping systems.

The Mapping Authority also publishes fixed lists of tides, sailing instructions and other publications for safety at sea.

The Norwegian Mapping Authority
Kartverksveien 21
3500 Hønefoss, Norway
Telephone: +47 32 11 81 00
Fax: +47 32 11 81 01
E-mail: info@statkart.no
Internet: http://www.statkart.no/ (Norwegian)

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority is responsible for providing the professional basis for decisions for the Ministry in connection with pollution issues. In addition, the Pollution Control Authority has an executive responsibility with regard to:

instructions and control relating to measures to combat industrial - pollution
acute pollution
chemical substances and products
monitoring pollution in air and water.

The Pollution Control Authority is authorized to issue instructions to the County Departments of Environmental Affairs and to the Governor´s office on Svalbard concerning e.g. pollution, waste and products.

The concrete environmental objectives of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority are described in the discussion of target areas in the Ministry of the Environment´s budget proposition:

The main strategies to achieve the objectives are to:

focus on preventive environmental protection and an active use of grants enhance the efforts in international cooperation and concentrate the efforts on areas which involve binding agreements
change the execution of authority by imposing simpler, controllable and more long-term requirements as well as shifting control activities towards systems control
contribute to ensuring that municipalities and other government authorities accept responsibility and implement measures to achieve the environmental objectives
improve knowledge about the state of the environment and performance reporting in relation to environmental objectives
cooperate with the Directorate for Nature Management on developing its role as an instruction-issuing authority for county governors
develop the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority as an organization.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority
P.O. Box 8100 Dep.
0032 Oslo, Norway
Telephone: +47 22 57 34 00
Fax: +47 22 67 67 06
E-mail: postmottak@sft.no
Internet: http://www.sft.no/english/

The Product Register

The Product Register (PR) was established in 1981 by the Norwegian parliament. It is a subordinate agency of the Ministry of the Environment.

PR runs the authorities’ central register of substances and chemical products (chemicals). The information is used as a tool for preventing damage to health and the environment caused by chemicals.

Use of the Product Register

PR currently holds information on more than 25 000 products. Data from PR are used in various ways, for instance:
By the authorities in control and inspection of product labelling and in risk assessment of particular types of substances or products.
By the National Poison Information Centre to provide advice and instruction in connection with acute poisoning.
By the Product Register to provide statistics that can be used by the authorities in controlling the flow of chemicals.

The Product Register
P.O.Box 8180 Dep.
0034 Oslo
Norway

Tel: (+47) 22 05 48 80
Fax: (+47) 22 05 48 99
E-mail: Produktregisteret@produktregisteret.no
Internet: http://www.produktregisteret.no/english/eng_index.html