Consulting and Services

The Natural Science Institute of Iceland has a legal obligation to provide instruction on the responsible use of natural resources and to provide assistance in assessing (a) the conservation value of habitat types, ecosystems, and natural history sites, and (b) the impact of construction work and other land use on nature.

The largest such consulting projects are those undertaken at the request of government ministries, energy companies, municipalities, and private parties. The goal of this work is to obtain basic data on the flora, fauna, and geology of an area in order to assess the conservation value of its ecosystems and natural history sites within specific areas and to evaluate the impact of land use on the natural environment. The commissioning party receives a report detailing the project findings.

The institute is responsible for implementing the Act on the Infrastructure for Spatial Information, which involves improving public access to geographic information in order to support efficient decision-making. It also provides public institutions with advice on geographic information projects.

Furthermore, the institute maintains the national coordinate system ISN2016 and offers assistance with coordinate transformations between reference systems (Cocodati/Varpi).