Indre Wijdefjorden National Park

Indre Wijdefjorden National Park covers 1,127 km² (435 sq mi), of which 745 km² (288 sq mi) is on land and 382 km² (147 sq mi) is sea, making it the smallest national park in Svalbard. It is located in the steep fjord landscape on both sides of the inner ("Indre") parts of Wijdefjorden ("The Wide Fjord") on Spitsbergen.^[1] At 108 kilometres (67 mi) length, Wijdefjorden is the longest fjord on Svalbard. It is located on the northern coast of Spitsbergen, between Andrée Land to the west, Dickson Land to the south and Ny-Friesland to the east.^[2] The inner parts of Wijdefjorden split into two, with the eastern, 32-kilometre (20 mi) long part known as Austfjorden ("The East Fjord"),^[3] and the shorter as Vestfjorden ("The West Fjord").^[4] At the end of Austfjorden is the glacier Mittag-Lefflerbreen.^[5]

The inner parts of the fjord receive some of the lowest precipitation of the archipelago. Combined with the exposed basic earth, this results in Europe's only High Arctic steppe. The only other area with this landscape is the north of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The rock bed on each side of the fjord is different. On the west side there are Devonian deposits, while there is bedrock on the east side, resulting in different vegetation on each side.^[6] The fjord has a unique shape; it has a wide mouth (thus the name), but at Elvetangen there is a shallow section which is 50 metres (160 ft) deep. This reduces the circulation in the inner parts of the fjord, which have a cold-water basin 250 metres (820 ft) deep.^[7]

Average July temperatures range from 4 to 6 °C (39 to 43 °F), and in January temperatures are normally between −12 and −16 °C (10 and 3 °F).^[8] The Arctic climate results in permafrost, which can be up to 100 metres (330 ft) deep.^[9] The North Atlantic Current moderates Svalbard's temperatures, particularly during winter, giving it up to 20 °C (36 °F) higher winter temperature than similar latitudes in continental Russia and Canada, keeping the surrounding waters open and navigable most of the year. The shelter of the mountains gives the inland fjord areas less temperature difference than the coast.^[10]

The area around Wijdefjorden was first used by Russian, and later Norwegian, trappers. The cabin at Krosspynten was erected in 1910, and two years later the cabin at Purpurdalen was built. Trappers considered the area to have few polar bears but much fox; they could also supplement the catch with common eider. In 1928, a season of trapping gave about 50 Arctic foxes.^[7] In 1932, the area's special vegetation was protected, which was assimilated into the national park when it was created.^[6] Since the 1980s, trapping has again been taken up, and the Governor of Svalbard has one cabin at Austfjordnes that can be rented for a season of trapping.^[7] Of the larger fjords on Svalbard, Wijdefjorden is the least affected by humans.^[11]

During the considerations prior to the establishment of the national park, there was a conflict with the mining industry. Svalbard Minerals had found baryte within the national park borders, and Arktikugol holds two mining claim areas just south of the national park.^[12] The national park was established on 9 September 2005. It completed a several-year-long plan to increase the amount of protected areas of Svalbard from 55% to 65%, which had two years earlier resulted in Nordenskiöld Land National Park, Sassen – Bünsow Land National Park and Nordre Isfjorden National Park.^[13]

The establishment of the national park and the protection is based on the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act, which takes its mandate from the requirements in the Svalbard Treaty to protect the environment of the archipelago.^[14] The overall responsibility for protection lies with the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, which has delegated management to the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management and the Governor of Svalbard. The latter performs all day-to-day practical management, including registration and inspection. In aspects related to cultural heritage, the Governor reports to the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, and in issues relating to pollution, to the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. While it has no authority, the Norwegian Polar Institute performs monitoring, mapping and research.^[15]

Traditionally, the mining industry in Svalbard has had more rights to operations within protected areas than in mainland Norway, where all such activities would be completely banned. Indre Wijdefjorden has the most strict regulations, with a total ban on construction of buildings and facilities, laying of cables and roads, earthwork, drainage, drilling, blasting, and excavation of petroleum, gas and minerals.^[16] It is the authorities' goal that Svalbard is to be one of the best-managed wilderness areas in the world.^[17] Svalbard, and thus the national park, is on Norway's tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[18]