Act No. 100 on the management of biodiversity (Nature Diversity Act).

This Act establishes the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of Norway’s natural environment. Its overarching purpose is to ensure that nature—encompassing biological, landscape, and geological diversity, as well as ecological processes—is safeguarded through sustainable use and protection, so that it continues to provide a basis for human activity, culture, health, and well-being, including Sami culture, now and in the future. The Act applies across Norway’s land territory and territorial waters and was adopted to strengthen implementation of Norway’s international obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and to give effect to Article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution. It sets out core definitions (such as species, ecosystems, ecological status, genetic material, and foreign organisms) and establishes management objectives for ecosystems, habitat types, and species. Species and their genetic diversity must be maintained in viable populations within their natural ranges, while ecosystems must preserve their structure, functions, and productivity. The Act also imposes a general duty of care on everyone to avoid damage to biodiversity and requires public authorities to base decisions on scientific knowledge, traditional and Sami knowledge, the precautionary principle, ecosystem approaches, cumulative impact assessments, and the polluter-pays principle.
Beyond general principles, the Act provides detailed rules on species management, harvesting, alien species, and genetic resources. Harvesting of wildlife and freshwater fish must be authorized under sectoral legislation and may only occur where documentation shows that the species produces a harvestable surplus, taking into account ecological functions and cumulative impacts. Authorities may permit or conduct removals to prevent damage, protect public safety, conserve ecosystems, or address invasive species, and the state provides compensation for livestock losses caused by large carnivores. The Act also introduces the mechanism of “priority species,” allowing the government to designate species requiring special protection where population status, genetic uniqueness, or international obligations justify it. Strict controls apply to the import and release of non-native organisms: introduction generally requires prior authorization and must be refused where there is a risk of significant adverse effects on biodiversity. Responsible parties must act cautiously, prevent spread, notify authorities of harm, and take remedial measures. The legislation further enables implementation of international agreements such as CITES and the EU Water Framework Directive within Norwegian law.
A substantial portion of the Act regulates protected areas and habitat conservation. It establishes multiple categories of area protection—including national parks, landscape protection areas, nature reserves, biotope protection areas, and marine protected areas—each with defined purposes and varying degrees of restriction. Protected areas aim to conserve ecosystem diversity, threatened habitats and species, ecological connectivity, intact landscapes, geological formations, cultural landscapes, and reference areas for monitoring environmental change. The Act prescribes detailed procedural safeguards for designation, including public consultation, cooperation with landowners, Sami authorities, municipalities, and other stakeholders, public notification, and justification of decisions in light of national and international conservation goals. Temporary protection may be imposed to prevent imminent harm. Within protected areas, activities that undermine conservation objectives are restricted, though sustainable uses compatible with the protection purpose may continue. The Act provides for management plans, ecological restoration and maintenance (skjøtsel), and limited dispensations where compatible with conservation aims or justified by significant societal interests. Finally, landowners and right-holders are entitled to state compensation for economic losses resulting from protection measures that significantly restrict ongoing lawful use, with procedures for claims and judicial determination.
The Act consists of 78 articles organized in the following chapters: chapters: Scope and Purpose (I); General provisions on sustainable use (II); Species management (III); Alien organisms (IV); Area protection (V); Selected habitats (VI); Access to genetic material and traditional knowledge related to genetic material; (VII); Authority under this Law, supervision, etc. (VIII); Enforcement and sanctions (IX); Final provisions (X).