Environmental Issues - Norway - page 891

For a Norwegian perspective on whaling, stop by the Whaling Museum in Sandefjord,
along Norway's southern coast.
Harpoon - Into the Heart of Whaling by Andrew Darby is an erudite (and unashamedly
anti-whaling) account of whaling in all its manifestations, from the history of uncontrolled
slaughter to the more complicated political debates of the present.
Norway's Recent Practice
Norway resumed commercial whaling of minke whales in 1993 in defiance of an interna-
tional whaling ban but under its registered objection to the 1986 moratorium. While Nor-
way supports the protection of threatened species, the government contends that minke
whales, with a northeast Atlantic population of an allegedly estimated 100,000, can sustain
a limited harvest. Despite condemnation by international environmental groups such as
Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the Norwegian government
maintains an annual minke-whale quota of 1286, although in recent years whalers have
killed less than half their allocated quota.
Japan and Norway resumed trading in whale meat in 2004 and it tends to be the export
market that drives the industry rather than domestic consumption, although whale meat is
openly sold in fish markets (especially Bergen) - a good moment to decide where you
stand on the issue.
Follow the whaling debate at Greenpeace UK ( www.greenpeace.org.uk ) , the Whale and
Dolphin Conservation Society ( www.wdcs.org ) and the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries
(fisheries.no).
Forestry
Forests cover an estimated 38% of mainland Norway, but forests set aside for cultivation
account for around 25% of Norwegian territory. Government-protected wilderness areas
account for less than 1% of Norway's forests, well below the international standard of 5%.
More than 1000 forest-dwelling species are considered to be endangered and areas of old-
growth forest are extremely rare.