The WWF campaign to stop the Norwegian Government opening the paradise Lofoten Islands to oil development has been successful.

On Monday, December 15th the Norwegian Government announced that it would not be opening the seas around the islands for oil development in the immediate future.

The Government said, "As of now, it has not been demonstrated that adequate consideration to the fisheries and the environment can be attended to if petroleum activities are allowed in the area."

The decision is a U-turn for the Norwegian Government which offered the seas off the islands for oil development after oil companies expressed an interest in drilling there. The Government has decided not to allow exploration in the area despite claims by the oil companies that there was as much as one billion US dollars worth of oil beneath the seas.

WWF expects that in 2005 the Government will fully protect the Lofoten Islands on completion of its Barents Sea Management Plan.

The Lofoten Islands are home to the world's largest cod and herring stocks, shoals of sperm whales and killer whales, some of the largest sea bird colonies in Europe, including puffin and cormorant, and the world’s biggest cold water coral reef, which was only discovered last year. The island community is almost entirely dependent on fishing and tourism for survival.

Samantha Smith, director of WWF's Arctic Programme, said: "This is a landmark decision which oil companies planning to explore in the Arctic should take note of. Some things are more important than short-term oil and gas profits. It is no longer acceptable to explore for oil in biologically vulnerable and valuable areas. We have seen this happen in the US over the Arctic Refuge and now we have seen it in Lofoten."

However, WWF was surprised and disappointed by the Government's decision to allow exploratory drilling in another field, Goliath, off northern Norway. The area is very close to major seabird colonies and fish spawning grounds. Samantha Smith said: "The Norwegian Government is producing a management plan of the Barents Sea and the idea that it can somehow open up areas of that sea – like Goliath - for oil and gas development before this is completed is crazy and totally inconsistent. WWF will not allow full scale development to take place in Goliath without a major battle."

The Barents Sea is still one of Europe's last large, clean and relatively undisturbed ecosystems. Among its most spectacular features are the world's highest density of seabirds, some of the world's richest fisheries, and diverse and rare communities of marine mammals.

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