Management Plan 2004-2024
In June 2004 the Þingvellir Commission published its management plan 2004-2024. In the management plan the factors emphasised are broadly similar to those of the prior management plan of 1988.
As before, the most important objective is to safeguard the nature, historical area and heritage sites of the National Park for the future, while also making preparations for visitors, whose numbers may be expected to rise steadily.
The management plan is based upon a vision for the period until 2024. The situation in the current year in the main fields is summarised, and this is followed by an exposition of the principal objectives which must be achieved in order to make the vision a reality. In the 1990s, systematic development of facilities and services commenced; it is fair to say that this was a prerequisite for the national park to be able to receive a fast-growing number of guests in recent years, without serious consequences.
The management plan stresses the importance of further planning and monitoring, in order to make better use of the existing infrastructure and facilities, and to expand these factors without more encroachment on nature than has already taken place. In addition, emphasis is placed upon visitors having access to education on the unique interplay of history and nature to be found at Þingvellir.
The policymaking work involved extensive consultation with visitors to the national park and many stakeholders. This provided a veritable mine of information on the attitudes and ideas on which the management plan is based; the policymakers have striven to reflect the main messages of this consultation in the management plan. The management plan is accompanied by an operational plan, which will be renewed every five years. The intention is that the effectiveness of management of the national park be evaluated in tandem with the renewal of the operational plan.
The management plan can be obtained here.