| Summary: | The current Icelandic Nature Conservation Act includes a definition of wilderness, a definition of a wilderness protected area and specifications about the criteria that areas need to fulfil to be suitable for protection as wilderness in Iceland. To date, there is limited research on how these definitions and criteria for protection relate to other definitions of wilderness and wilderness protected areas and to the understandings of wilderness from Icelandic government actors working with wilderness. By exploring these topics, this study aims to derive implications for wilderness identification and management in Iceland. Selected wilderness-related texts from the IUCN, Europe and the USA are compared to the Icelandic definitions and criteria by using various qualitative coding methods. Semistandardized interviews were conducted with employees from five different Icelandic government institutions to explore how these actors understand wilderness. In contrast to the European working definition of wilderness, the Icelandic definition of wilderness does not encompass aspects related to the influence of nature, such as natural processes. Similarly, the interviewed government actors did not mention such aspects when asked about their understanding of wilderness. Most referred to infrastructure, remoteness from infrastructure or developed areas and visual aspects. Some also mentioned wilderness-related experiences. This may mean that in Iceland, the identification of wilderness does not require an assessment of natural processes. The management of future protected areas within the wilderness protection category may focus on decisions concerning infrastructure and on visitors’ experiences. The implications drawn from the study’s results may inform future Icelandic wilderness-related work. Núgildandi náttúruverndarlög á Íslandi innihalda skilgreiningu á hugtakinu óbyggt víðerni, auk skilgreiningar á samnefndum flokki friðlýstra svæða og viðmiða um þau skilyrði sem svæði þurfa að uppfylla til þess að vera friðlýst sem ...
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