The Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management is Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

's national governmental body for preserving Norway's natural environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

, including establishing and regulating national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

s and other protected areas. The directorate is under of the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment

Norwegian Ministry of the Environment

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of the Environment is a Norwegian ministry established in 1972. The ministry is responsible for environmental issues in Norway. It is led by the Minister of the Environment, Erik Solheim...

.

The directorate's mission is to "preserve biological diversity and strengthen the common right of access to the countryside."

The directory states as its central tasks to:

• Secure the breadth of variation in Norwegian wildlife and scenery, and maintain the natural ability for production.
• See to it that concern for long-term management of natural resources forms the basis of land-use planning, planning of watercourse utilisation, and plans for other activities that may disturb wildlife and the countryside.
• Further the opportunities for using the countryside and natural environments for recreation and harvesting.
• Acquire and pass on knowledge that forms a basis for active and preventive nature management.

The organization is based in Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 and employs about 250 employees. It concerns itself with designating areas for protection, monitoring and preserving biological diversity, as well as setting and enforcing fish and hunting quotas.

Directors have been Helge Vikan (1985–1988), Peter Johan Schei

Peter Johan Schei

Peter Johan Schei is a Norwegian biologist and civil servant.He is a cand.real. by education. From 1989 to 1995 he served as director of the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. Before this he worked as assisting director from 1985, and after this he has worked as an advisor...

 (1989–1995), Stein Lier-Hansen

Stein Lier-Hansen

Stein Lier-Hansen is a Norwegian organizational director and politician for the Labour Party.From 1988 to 1993 he was the general secretary of the Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers, an organization with more than 100,000 members...

 (1995–2000) and Janne Sollie

Janne Sollie

Janne Sollie is a Norwegian civil servant.A sivilagronom by education, she was hired in the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority as a head of department in 1987. From 1990 to 1991 she worked as an advisor in the Ministry of the Environment...

(2001–present).