Nordenskiöldkysten

The bird cliff at Vårsolbukta
Vårsolbukta
Gravsjøen
Kapp Martin
Nordenskioldkysten in February
Grønsteinodden at Nordenskioldkysten
Migrating Northern fulmars at Revleodden in February
Kapp Bjørset in February
Marvågen with Protektorfjellet in the background

Nordenskiöldkysten

  • Country: 
    Norway
  • Site number: 
    1968
  • Area: 
    42,992 ha
  • Designation date: 
    12-11-2010
  • Coordinates: 
    77°50'N 13°56'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

The Site consists of a coastal plain with many freshwater pools and, in its south-eastern part, Ingeborgfjellet, a mountain with steep cliffs harbouring breeding seabird colonies. During the breeding season some 55,000 little auks Alle alle, 21,600 thick-billed murres Uria lomvia and 6,000 black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla nest there. The Site is also an important staging, moulting, feeding and resting area during the migration seasons. Species listed on the Norwegian Red List include the nationally endangered red knot Calidris canutus and the vulnerable sanderling Calidris alba. The Site also supports more than 13% (4,000 mature individuals) of the Svalbard population of barnacle goose Branta leucopsis. It is important for mammals such as the Svalbard reindeer Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus and the Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus, and is visited by polar bears, harbour seals and walrus. The Site plays an important role in carbon and methane storage due to its permafrost  which is between ten and 40 metres deep. There is traditional trapping activity in the area, and a trapping station is situated on Akseløya, south-east of the Site.

Administrative region: 
Svalbard

  • National legal designation: 
    • National Park - Nordenskiöld
  • Last publication date: 
    09-07-2018

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Additional reports and documents