Wild Harvest and Restoration FundIceland Eclipse 2026← the seven doors

What is on the ground

A ranked inventory of Outer Snæfellsnes peninsula, ordered by how irreversible the loss would be rather than by how charismatic the species is.

Assembled 2026-08-12 · 29,764 GBIF records in the search box · settlements: Hellissandur, Rif, Ólafsvík

How to read this, and what it is not. This is a desk assessment built from published records and national datasets. It is not a field survey, and it does not establish what is present on any particular parcel of ground on any particular day. Where it says a species is present, it means a record exists in the sources listed at the end. 7 things can only be settled on the ground, and they are listed near the bottom rather than buried.

Search box used: 64.85 to 64.98 N, -24.1 to -23.6 E.

The ranking, and why it is ordered this way

All native species are worth preserving. Ranking is not a statement of which species matter; it is a statement of where a fixed amount of protective effort returns the most, and of which losses are irreversible.

Tier 1 — Irreversible on project timescales. Once converted, does not recover within decades. Substrate and slow-growing habitat. No amount of later money buys it back.

Tier 2 — Legally protected and locally concentrated. Red-listed, and the site holds a nationally or internationally significant share, or the feature is protected with no size threshold.

Tier 3 — Red-listed and present. On an Icelandic red list and recorded here, but the site is not a disproportionate share of the national population.

Tier 4 — Native and unlisted. Native, secure, and still worth not damaging. Default protection: avoid, do not survey exhaustively.

Tier 5 — Negative value: removal is a gain. Invasive or introduced. Effort spent here produces net positive outcome rather than merely avoiding harm.

Designations already on this ground

Important Bird Area SF-V 7

Area
19,000 ha
Qualifying species
Arctic tern, Black-legged kittiwake, Glaucous gull
Note
Qualifies under A4i, B1i and A4iii. Combined 22,535 pairs.

Náttúruminjaskrá (Nature Conservation Register)

Unit
Snæfellsnes
Area
184.3 km²
Extent
Sölvahamar and Arnarstapi to Rif
Listed for
shore habitats and birds

National Park

Protected coastal strip

Tier 1 — Irreversible on project timescales

Once converted, does not recover within decades. Substrate and slow-growing habitat. No amount of later money buys it back.

Postglacial lava field (eldhraun) eldhraun

Legal status
Specially protected, Nature Conservation Act 60/2013 Art. 61, NO SIZE THRESHOLD
Extent here
Dominant. Snæfellsjökull's postglacial lavas extend to the coast across the whole outer peninsula, both apalhraun (a'a) and helluhraun (pahoehoe).
Why it ranks here
This is the binding constraint on the whole site. Virtually any ground disturbance on outer Snæfellsnes engages eldhraun protection, which requires demonstration of brýna nauðsyn (exceptional necessity) AND that no alternative exists.
Recovery
Effectively permanent on project timescales.

Moss lava heath (mosahraunavist)

Why it ranks here
The habitat type is ENDEMIC TO ICELAND, so Iceland carries full European responsibility for it. Racomitrium has no roots and regenerates only from spores or fragments arriving from undamaged ground.
Recovery
Icelandic authorities state vegetation damage takes decades to recover, and damage exposing bare ground takes longer still. No defensible published rate exists.

Lichen lava heath (fléttuhraunavist)

Why it ranks here
Slower-growing than moss heath. Lichen growth rates are measured in millimetres per decade.
Recovery
Effectively permanent on project timescales.

Lava caves (hraunhellar)

Legal status
Specially protected, Art. 61, no size threshold
Why it ranks here
Frequently undetected from the surface. A vehicle or structure load over an unmapped lava tube is both an ecological and a safety failure.

Salt marsh and tidal flats (sjávarfitjar og leirur)

Legal status
Specially protected, Art. 61, NO SIZE THRESHOLD
Why it ranks here
Any shore-zone works engage this. Also the habitat of the four red-listed plants most likely present and least likely to be noticed.

Tier 2 — Legally protected and locally concentrated

Red-listed, and the site holds a nationally or internationally significant share, or the feature is protected with no size threshold.

Arctic tern Kría

Sterna paradisaea

Red list 2025
VU (A2abc)
Here
~12,500 pairs (2016) = 6.3% of the entire Icelandic population. IBA qualifying species.
National population
150,000-250,000 pairs, revised down from 250,000-500,000 in the 1990s
Why it ranks here
Fully protected since 1882. Breeding success has been persistently poor on the south and west coasts since the 2005 sandeel collapse, so a west Iceland colony that is still producing chicks is doing something the surrounding landscape is not.
Ecology
Colonial, dense, strongly site-faithful. Adults return to the same colony; young return to where they hatched. Eider and other ground-nesters nest INSIDE tern colonies for protection from skuas, gulls and foxes, so the colony shelters a wider assemblage.

White-tailed eagle Haförn

Haliaeetus albicilla

Red list 2025
EN
Here
Breiðafjörður and Snæfellsnes is the species' Icelandic core range. Strong local presence (88 GBIF records in the box, 65 in the tight box).
Why it ranks here
Nest-site buffers are a material siting constraint, and Icelandic law is unusually specific here.

Black-legged kittiwake Rita

Rissa tridactyla

Red list 2025
VU
Here
~9,995 pairs (2005) = 1.7% of Iceland. IBA qualifying species.

Glaucous gull Hvítmáfur

Larus hyperboreus

Red list 2025
EN
Here
~40 pairs = 1.7% of Iceland. IBA qualifying species.

Red-necked phalarope Óðinshani

Phalaropus lobatus

Red list 2025
NT
Here
668 records in the tight Hellissandur-Rif-Ólafsvík box. Notably high local concentration.
Why it ranks here
Its abundance is strong indirect evidence of substantial pool and wetland habitat, which triggers the Art. 61 wetland and pond thresholds.

Red-throated diver Lómur

Gavia stellata

Red list 2025
LC
Here
574 records in the tight box. Very high local count.
Why it ranks here
Listed here despite LC status because the local concentration is the signal, and because divers are exceptionally sensitive to disturbance at breeding pools.

Tier 3 — Red-listed and present

On an Icelandic red list and recorded here, but the site is not a disproportionate share of the national population.

Note
Recorded in the GBIF box and red-listed. Breeding status marked [V] verified or [I] inferred. Full tables in the review document.
Critically Endangered
  • species: Atlantic puffin · icelandic: Lundi · scientific: Fratercula arctica · cat: CR · breeding: [I] cliffs
  • species: Great black-backed gull · icelandic: Svartbakur · scientific: Larus marinus · cat: CR · breeding: [I]
  • species: Great skua · icelandic: Skúmur · scientific: Stercorarius skua · cat: CR · breeding: [I] uncertain
  • species: Eurasian curlew · icelandic: Fjöruspói · scientific: Numenius arquata · cat: CR · breeding: non-breeding visitor
Endangered
  • species: Northern fulmar · icelandic: Fýll · scientific: Fulmarus glacialis · cat: EN · breeding: [V] abundant cliff-nester
  • species: Arctic skua · icelandic: Kjói · scientific: Stercorarius parasiticus · cat: EN · breeding: [I]
  • species: Purple sandpiper · icelandic: Sendlingur · scientific: Calidris maritima · cat: EN · breeding: [I]
  • species: Gyrfalcon · icelandic: Fálki · scientific: Falco rusticolus · cat: EN · breeding: [V] scarce
  • species: Greater scaup · icelandic: Duggönd · scientific: Aythya marila · cat: EN · breeding: [I]
  • species: Harbour seal · icelandic: Landselur · scientific: Phoca vitulina · cat: EN · note: Haul-out survey required; GBIF points do not identify haul-outs
Vulnerable
  • species: European golden plover · icelandic: Heiðlóa · scientific: Pluvialis apricaria · cat: VU · breeding: [V] heath/moorland
  • species: Whimbrel · icelandic: Spói · scientific: Numenius phaeopus · cat: VU · breeding: [V] heath
  • species: Eurasian oystercatcher · icelandic: Tjaldur · scientific: Haematopus ostralegus · cat: VU · breeding: [V] shore/gravel
  • species: Dunlin · icelandic: Lóuþræll · scientific: Calidris alpina · cat: VU · breeding: [I] wet heath/mire
  • species: Common redshank · icelandic: Stelkur · scientific: Tringa totanus · cat: VU · breeding: [I] wetland/marsh
  • species: Brünnich's guillemot · icelandic: Stuttnefja · scientific: Uria lomvia · cat: VU · breeding: [V] cliffs
  • species: Black guillemot · icelandic: Teista · scientific: Cepphus grylle · cat: VU · breeding: [I] · note: Localised breeding failure attributed to mink
  • species: Northern gannet · icelandic: Súla · scientific: Morus bassanus · cat: VU · breeding: foraging only
  • species: Snow bunting · icelandic: Snjótittlingur · scientific: Plectrophenax nivalis · cat: VU · breeding: [V] lava/rocky ground
  • species: Common raven · icelandic: Hrafn · scientific: Corvus corax · cat: VU · breeding: [I] cliffs
  • species: Great northern diver · icelandic: Himbrimi · scientific: Gavia immer · cat: VU · breeding: [I]
  • species: Grey seal · icelandic: Útselur · scientific: Halichoerus grypus · cat: VU
Red Listed Plants
  • species: Ferlaufungur · scientific: Paris quadrifolia · cat: NT · note: [V] Independently confirmed by the National Park's own brochure as a rare protected plant of the park. A real and specific flag.
  • species: Skorutungljurt · scientific: Botrychium nordicum · cat: DD
  • species: Álfafingur · scientific: Huperzia arctica · cat: DD
  • species: Sandlæðingur · scientific: Lysimachia maritima · cat: VU · status: [I] salt marsh, priority survey target
  • species: Flæðaskurfa · scientific: Spergularia salina · cat: VU · status: [I] salt marsh, priority survey target
  • species: Lónajurt · scientific: Ruppia maritima · cat: VU · status: [I] brackish lagoon, priority survey target
  • species: Fitjasef · scientific: Juncus gerardii · cat: VU · status: [I] salt marsh, priority survey target

Tier 4 — Native and unlisted

Native, secure, and still worth not damaging. Default protection: avoid, do not survey exhaustively.

Principle
All native species are worth preserving. These are not survey priorities but they are avoidance obligations.
Note
Full lists retained in the review document. Highlights below.
Signature Natives
  • species: Arctic fox · icelandic: Melrakki · scientific: Vulpes lagopus · cat: LC · why: ICELAND'S ONLY NATIVE TERRESTRIAL MAMMAL. Confirmed in Snæfellsjökull NP. Náttúrufræðistofnun runs research specifically on the effects of tourism on denning foxes, which is directly relevant to visitor infrastructure.
  • species: Mountain avens · icelandic: Holtasóley · scientific: Dryas octopetala · cat: LC · why: Iceland's national flower, and the single most-recorded plant in the box (63 records).
  • species: Common eider · icelandic: Æðarfugl · scientific: Somateria mollissima · cat: NT · why: Abundant colonial shore-nester. Nests inside tern colonies for protection, so tern protection is eider protection.
  • species: Ringed plover · icelandic: Sandlóa · scientific: Charadrius hiaticula · cat: LC · why: [V] Breeds on gravel flats and dune, which is exactly the substrate a campground is built on.
Habitat Groups
  • coastal strand and dune
  • heath and lava dry ground
  • wetland, mire and flush
  • orchids and ferns
  • bryophytes and lichens
  • marine invertebrates and macroalgae

Tier 5 — Negative value: removal is a gain

Invasive or introduced. Effort spent here produces net positive outcome rather than merely avoiding harm.

Principle
This is where a festival can produce net positive value rather than merely avoiding harm. Effort here creates ecological gain that would not otherwise happen.
Species
  • species: Nootka lupin · icelandic: Alaskalúpína · scientific: Lupinus nootkatensis · presentHere: CONFIRMED. 32 GBIF records in the wider box, 26 in the tight Hellissandur-Rif-Ólafsvík box. Not a hypothetical risk. · introduced: ~1895 as an ornamental; localised until the 1990s, then rapid expansion as sheep grazing declined and as it was actively planted for land reclamation · extent: ~314 km² mapped in 2016, estimated 350-400 km² actual. ~0.3% of Iceland's land area, but equivalent to 23% of the area of Iceland's native birch woodland. · why: Nitrogen fixation fundamentally alters soil chemistry and forms dense closed stands where 'most previous species disappear'. Náttúrufræðistofnun explicitly names the habitats it threatens: moss heaths, lava fields, gravel flats and alpine heath. Those are precisely the habitats of outer Snæfellsnes. It also facilitates secondary invasion by cow parsley. · removalEffort: Cut at peak flowering before seed set, mid-June to mid-July, when root reserves are lowest. Must be cut for SEVERAL YEARS IN SUCCESSION with monitoring for at least the following decade. Each plant produces >2,000 seeds per year and the soil seed bank persists for many years. Single-season clearance achieves essentially nothing. · legalPoint: Regulation 583/2000 prohibits all cultivation of foreign species in protected areas, ON LANDSCAPE TYPES ENJOYING SPECIAL PROTECTION, and everywhere above 400 m. Lava fields enjoy special protection under Art. 61. THEREFORE planting or deliberate spreading of lupin on the lava of outer Snæfellsnes is prohibited regardless of altitude. Any restoration or reinstatement specification must exclude lupin-based reclamation seed mixes. · url: https://www.natt.is/is/grodur/agengar-plontur/alaskalupina
  • species: Cow parsley · icelandic: Skógarkerfill · scientific: Anthriscus sylvestris · introduced: First Icelandic record Akureyri 1927; widespread in all regions by 1967 · why: Forms a continuous leaf canopy shading out shorter species, causing impoverished vegetation and significant changes in animal life. Particularly threatens flower-rich meadows and stream corridors. Out-competes even lupin. · removalEffort: Mow twice per summer, or 3-4 cuts per season. A SINGLE SPRING CUT IS COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE: it stimulates root shoots and more flowering plants. · importantAsymmetry: Cow parsley seed survives only about one winter. THERE IS NO PERSISTENT SEED BANK. So unlike lupin, control is genuinely achievable within a few consistent seasons. This makes it the better target for a volunteer effort with a visible result. · url: https://www.natt.is/is/grodur/agengar-plontur/skogarkerfill
  • species: American mink · icelandic: Minkur · scientific: Neovison vison · introduced: Autumn 1931 from Norway for fur farming; escapees established in all regions · why: Náttúrufræðistofnun attributes to mink the extirpation of the water rail (keldusvín) from Iceland; the 2025 Red List independently confirms keldusvín as RE. Also causes localised breeding failure in seabirds, specifically black guillemot (VU, present here). · policy: Mink has NO LEGAL PROTECTION. Since 2004 anyone may hunt mink anywhere in Icelandic nature, with or without a licence, year-round. The sole exception is wildlife refuges. · relevance: Predator control at a restored tern patch is legal, uncontroversial and already national policy. · url: https://www.natt.is/is/dyr/spendyr/minkur
  • species: White-tailed bumblebee · icelandic: Húshumla · scientific: Bombus lucorum · presentHere: CONFIRMED, 4 GBIF records · why: Arrived in the 1970s on imported goods. Larger and more aggressive; its spread correlates with decline of the native heath bumblebee. · note: Listed for completeness. Not a practical control target.
Other Introduced Plants Recorded
  • Picea sitchensis
  • Aegopodium podagraria
  • Myrrhis odorata
  • Alchemilla mollis
  • Pilosella aurantiaca
  • Leucanthemum vulgare
  • Lamium album
  • Matricaria discoidea

What only a field survey can settle

Gaps and cautions in this assessment

Published rather than tidied away. An inventory that lists only what it found is not checkable.
I Naturalist Not Retrieved
api.inaturalist.org returned access-policy denial from the research environment. Partially mitigated because GBIF ingests iNaturalist research-grade observations, so the better iNat records are likely inside the GBIF totals. RE-RUN FROM AN UNRESTRICTED CONNECTION before finalising.
Facet Cap
GBIF facets were capped at 400 entries and the largest list hit that cap. The plant list is A FLOOR, NOT A CEILING. Rare taxa may exist below the cut.
Red List Vintages
Birds are the 2025 edition. Plants and mammals are 2018, with no newer edition published.
Art61 Wetland Threshold
Cite 20,000 m² for wetlands (per the 2015 amending act) but VERIFY against the consolidated text. The 2013 original read 10,000 m². The 1,000 m² lake and pond threshold is independently corroborated.
Recent Reclassifications
Fulmar moved to EN and great black-backed gull to CR in the 2025 list. Any pre-2025 desk study will understate these.
Translation Error
Machine translations of the National Park's Icelandic species list circulate with wrong English pairings, e.g. 'stuttnefja = gannet'. Stuttnefja is Brünnich's guillemot.

Sources

  1. Red List of Birds 2025
  2. Red List of Vascular Plants 2018
  3. Red List of Mammals 2018
  4. IBA Snæfellsnes SF-V 7
  5. Náttúruminjaskrá, Snæfellsnes
  6. Art. 61 special protection map viewer
  7. Nature Conservation Act 60/2013
  8. Act 64/1994 on wild birds and mammals
  9. Reg. 583/2000 on alien plants
  10. Mosahraunavist habitat type
  11. Off-road driving impacts (UST)
  12. GBIF occurrence API

Generated from data/species-snaefellsnes.json by scripts/build-species-page.mjs. Every figure on this page traces to that file. Nothing here is typed by hand.