Bicycles and electric bicycles will be given more space in protected areas and national parks, says State Secretary Sveinung Rotevatn (Venstre) of the Ministry of Climate and Environment to Nationen.
“Work is now underway to revise the National Parks and Landscape Conservation Regulations so that it becomes more legal to cycle in these areas where this does not impact the conservation values,” Rotevatn told the newspaper.
Norwegian law prohibits the use of electric bicycles in protected areas such as Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen and Rondane, among other things for the sake of wild reindeer. The electric bicycles are considered motorised vehicles, and the Environment Agency (Miljødirektorat) has recently established that electric bicycles with a motor that are turned off should also be defined as motorised vehicles.
At the same time, tourism companies around the protected areas report a strong interest in electric bicycles, and several politicians have advocated changing the regulations.
Rotevatn says he understands the challenges, and this is something the government will look at in its follow-up to the Parliament Report on outdoor life from 2016 and the Action Plan for outdoor life from 2018.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
