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About Nave

Náttúrustofa Vestfjarða is a institute of natural sciences in Iceland, located in Bolungarvík
Nave operates according to the Act on the Icelandic Institute of Natural Sciences and Nature Centers, no.60/1992, with subsequent changes. Regarding the activities, there is a regulation on the organization and activities of the Vestfjörður Nature Center in Bolungarvík, no.459/1996 and approved by NAVE from 2012. In addition, NAVE’s activities at all times take into account the agreements of the association’s member municipalities with the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. The main functions of nature centers are specified in Article 11 of Act no. 60/1992, with subsequent amendments. They are:

  • Collecting data, preserving records about nature and conducting scientific nature research, especially in the part of the country where the nature center operates.
  • To promote desirable land use and nature conservation and to provide education on environmental issues and natural science and to assist in the creation of nature exhibitions.
  • To provide nature conservation committees in the area of ​​operation of the center with information and advice on the scope of work of the center according to the decision of the board of the nature center in each case.
  • To provide advice, carry out research and take care of monitoring for a fee in the agency’s field of work at the request of local authorities, the state or their institutions, individuals, companies or other parties..
  • To take care of general monitoring of the country’s nature, cf. Article 7 Nature Conservation Act, no. 44/1999, especially in the part of the country where the nature center operates; The Nature Conservancy shall enter into an agreement for such monitoring with nature centers that is confirmed by the minister.

NAVE is now one of 8 nature centers in the country. Together they have association; Samtök náttúrustofa (SNS). Náttúrustofa vestfjarða (NAVE) began operations at the beginning of the year 1997.

The center was founded by Bolungarvík with operational support from the state on the basis of the then-current Act on Iceland’s Institute of Natural Sciences and nature centers, no. 60/1992. The board of nature centers was made up of three people, two of the owners in the district, and one was a minister and he was the chairman. With amendments to the Act on the Icelandic Institute of Natural History and Nature Centers no. 92/2002, which entered into force on January 1, 2003, the operation of the nature centers was transferred entirely to the local authorities, although with support from the national treasury according to the relevant agreements. The municipalities then appointed the entire board. Súðavíkurhreppur and Ísafjarðarbær became members of NAVE in 2007 and Tálknafjarðarhreppur, Strandabyggð og Vesturbyggð a little later. Employees were then employed in Hólmavík and Patreksfjörður, but previously the salon had only worked in Bolungarvík.

Nave Management

The board of NAVE is composed this way, the chairman is biologist Smári Haraldsson and the co-directors are Catherine Chambers, PhD., fisheries scientist and Lilja Magnúsdóttir, M.S., forester. Deputy management is Matthías Lýðsson, Bragi Þór Thoroddsen and Guðrún Anna Finnbogadóttir. The main and deputy board representatives of the six municipalities that are responsible for the institute. The six municipalities responsible for the institute are Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður, Ísafjarðarbær, Súðavíkurhreppur, Strandabyggð, Vesturbyggð and Tálknafjarðarhreppur.