Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature
 | |
| NGO | |
| Industry | Environmental organization |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
Area served | Norway |
Key people | Lars Haltbrekken (Chairman) |
Number of employees | 30 (2007) |
| Website | www.naturvern.no |
The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature (Norwegian: Norges Naturvernforbund), also known as Friends of the Earth Norway and commonly abbreviated NNV is the largest Norwegian environmental organization with approximately 20,000 members. The organization is based on a volunteer work among the members, constituting work both at local and national levels. NNV works within a large range of environmental areas. The organization is affiliated with Friends of the Earth, and member of INFORSE-Europe.
History
The society dates back to 1914 as the National Association for Natural Conservation (Landsforeningen for Naturfredning). In 1916 the association started its work after three regional chapters had been founded, and the first Chairman was Hjalmar Brock. The society changed its name in 1936 to the Landsforeningen for Naturfredning i Norge, and again in 1951 to Landsforbundet for naturvern i Norge. Its current name is from 1962. The first issue of the membership magazine Norsk Natur was published in 1965 and two years later Nature and Youth (Natur og Ungdom) was founded as the youth branch.
International activities include an educational project in 16 countries on sustainable energy and practical energy saving measures SPARE, which is also part of the INFORSE-Europe cooperation school activities. The SPARE activities started in eastern European countries in 1996-99, and became introduced in the previous Soviet Union countries since 2005, where it is spread in 7000 schools (2008).
Organization
The organisation has 18 county branches and 155 local groups throughout the country. In addition it has the youth branch Nature and Youth (Natur og Ungdom) and the children's branch Eco-detectives (Miljøagentene). Their head office is located in Oslo. In total the NGO has more than 30 employees, some working in the county offices throughout the country. NNV publishes the magazine Natur & Miljø, and previously published the news bulletin Miljøjournalen
Since 2012 the main policy areas for the organization have been climate change and nature conservation. Also, the organization is concerned with preserving coastal nature and increasing energy efficiency in buildings. The organization has a large foreign branch, which mainly runs projects on energy saving and environmental education. Most of these projects are located in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and West Africa.
Lars Haltbrekken has been its leader since 2005, while Jan Thomas Odegard has been CEO since 2007. The highest authority of the organization is the biennial meeting, and in between these it is led by a 23-member national board (consisting of the county chairpersons and representatives from subordinate organizations and employees) as well as a six-member central board, consisting since 2011 of Lars Haltbrekken, Ingeborg Gjærum, Sunniva Pettersen Eidsvoll, Ingar Flatlandsmo, Per Flatberg and Eirin Hivand Haneberg. Natur og Ungdom is also represented in the central board with their leader.
The organisation is part of the 30 national organisations that constitute Friends of the Earth Europe.