Our development will include afforestation efforts with native species to restore a tree-filled landscape – avoiding soil erosion and enhance biodiversity.
What is reforestation and afforestation?
Reforestation is the process of planting trees in a forest where the number of trees has been decreasing.
Afforestation is when new trees are planted or seeds are sown in an area where there were no trees before, creating a new forest. In
Some numbers
In spite of being a reputed and attractive place, only a small portion of Iceland is covered by forests at present. As a matter of fact, only approximately 2% of the total land area of Iceland consists of forest which happens to be comparatively small.
However, this was not the case at all times. When the Vikings arrived in this country for the first time many years ago, they came across a landscape which did not consist of any habitation and there were lots of birch forests as well as other woodlands covering approximately 25% to 40% of the island.
Disappearance of the forests in Iceland
So what exactly happened? It is a fact that the Vikings began to chop down and burn the forests of Iceland for getting timber, and also for clearing areas for grazing pastures and farmland. They likewise purchased sheep which used to feed on the saplings that made it quite difficult for the forests of the country to recover.
Restoring Iceland one tree at any given time
However, efforts are being made by Iceland for fixing this and gaining back the benefits which have been lost over the years and we like to support these efforts. Restoring the native tree cover of this island can make a huge difference in the soil-erosion issue in the long run, for instance, improving agriculture and minimizing dust storms. It can also aid in enhancing the quality of the water and minimize the carbon footprint of the country.
Yet it is simpler to save old-growth forests rather than replacing them, particularly in a cold area such as Iceland. The nation is working on afforestation and reforestation for over a century, planting numerous non-native spruce, larch, as well as pine trees along with native birch. Numerous seedlings have been added by Iceland every year throughout the major portion of the last century. It finally reached 4 million every year during the 90s and as much as 6 million every year during the early 2000s. After the financial crisis during the period 2008 to 2009, forestry funding had been cut sharply. However, Iceland has gone on adding 3 million fresh trees every single year recently.
This particular endeavor has helped the nation to save a portion of the last national forests of the island, and it has even added to that; however, it happens to be a sluggish comeback. The forest cover of the island fell below 1% during the middle part of the 20th century, and now, birch forests cover approximately 1.5% of the island, and cultivated forest covers another 0.4%. Iceland has a target of increasing its forest cover from 2% to 12% by 2100.
For this, we will be supporting the activities of Islandic organisations that manage projects in the field of reforestation and environmental improvement like for instance Mossy Earth.
Want to read more about the history of forests on Iceland? Follow this link to the Icelandic Forest Service (IFS),
The Icelandic Forest Service (IFS) is a governmental institution that works with and for the government, but also the public and other interested parties, on the subjects of research, development, consultation and distribution of knowledge within forestry. The institution is also Iceland’s representative in forest-related cooperation with other countries. For over a century the IFS has been protecting and expanding the remaining native birchwoods in Iceland as well as executing afforestation projects and growing commercial forests on its lands situated in different locations throughout the country. In recent years, with ever clearer signs of global warming, carbon sequestration has become one of the most important drivers of new afforestation projects in Iceland.