Forestry in Treeless Land 2009

8/9/2019 Forestry in Treeless Land 2009

1/12

1

Iceland Forest Service, Mivangi 2-4, IS-700 Egilsstair, Iceland [email protected]

(Updated rom an article originally published in Lustgarden 2004)

Forestry in a Treeless Land 2009Thrstur EysteinssonDivision Chie, National Forests

Innovatively investingin Europes NorthernPeriphery for a sustainableand prosperous future

European Union

European Regional Development Fund


2/12

2

Among the rst things that visitors to Iceland usually notice

are that it is not as warm as where they came rom and there

is a lack o orests in the landscape. Logically, they connect

these two acts and come to the conclusion that Iceland is

too cold or orests. This impression is oten reinorced whenthey see the orests o low-growing and crooked native

birch. However, over a century o orestry activity has proven

that this is not the case, that it is past land-use and not

climate that explains the treeless landscape. In act, orests

grow as well in Iceland as they do in parts o the world where

orestry is a major industry.

Dr. Thrstur Eysteinsson

received his PhD in orest resources

rom the University og Maine in

1992. He has been deputy director o

the Forest Service since 1994 and di-

vision chie o National Forests since

2003. Dr. Eysteinsson also headsprojects in larch and birch breeding

and has been a member o several Nordic and European

networks and joint research and development projects.

E-mail: [email protected]

Forest historyFossil evidence indicates that Iceland was orested to a consid-

erable extent during the mid to late Tertiary (5-15 million years

ago), with tree genera including Sequoia, Magnolia, Sassaras,

Glyptostrobus and many others, indicating that the climate was

warm-temperate. Beech (Fagus sp.) orests seem to have beenvery common. By the late Pliocene, shortly beore the onset

o Pleistocene glaciations, conierous orests predominated in-

cluding Pinus, Picea, Abies, Larix, Betula and Alnus, indicative o

a boreal climate.

With succeeding glaciations, the Icelandic ora became ever

more species-poor. Pinus survived (or was able to return a-

ter) the rst ew glacial periods up to about 1.1 million years

ago and ossil evidence oAlnus is ound during interglacials

to about 500,000 years ago. The only orest orming tree spe-

cies to survive/return to the present interglacial is downy birch(Betula pubescens). Other native tree species ound in Icelandic

orests are rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), which is uncommon, and

the extremely rare aspen (Populus tremula) ound in only 7 lo-

cations, along with tea-leaved willow (Salix phyliciolia), which

sometimes reaches tree size but is usually a shrub.

At the time o human settlement about 1140 years ago, birch

orest and woodland covered 25-40% o Icelands land area. The

relatively tall (to 15 m) birch orests o sheltered valleys graded

to birch and willow scrub toward the coast, on exposed sites

and wetland areas and to willow tundra at high elevations.

As in agrarian societies everywhere, the settlers began by cut-

ting down the orests and burning scrubland to create elds

and grazing land. Sheep were important as a source o wool

rom the outset, but by 1300 they had become a staple source

o ood or Icelanders as well. At the same time, the Catholic

Church (also the political power at the time) started obtaining

woodland remnants, a clear indication that they had become a

rare and valuable resource. Continued sheep grazing prevent-

ed regeneration o the birchwoods ater cutting and the area

o woodland declined steadily. A cooling climate is sometimes

cited as a possible cause or woodland decline, but birch re-

generates by stump sprouts at quite low temperatures. Cool-

ing temperatures might have lowered tree line elevation, but

they do not explain deorestation o the lowlands.

The birchwoods were important as a source o uelwood,

building material and livestock odder, but the most important

orest product was charcoal, needed to smelt iron and make

iron tools. The need or charcoal was alleviated in the latter hal

o the 19th century, when steel tools and arming implements

began to be imported. However, wood was used or uel until

as late as 1940, both or cooking and heating the new wood


3/12

3

rame and concrete houses, which were colder than the sod

homes that Icelanders lived in beore. Thus, deorestation did

not end in Iceland until the middle o the 20th century.

The extent o Icelandic birchwoods probably reached a post-

glacial minimum o less than 1% cover around 1950. Eventhough economic, technical and agricultural development

alleviated the need to utilise birch or uel or odder by the

mid 20th century, increases in sheep numbers and high lev-

els o summer grazing continue to prevent natural exten-

sion o woodlands outside o protected areas to this day.

Charcoal making in Skataell around 1950.

Today, birchwoods are not economically important as a source

o wood or odder. Some birch orests are popular recreation

areas and birchwoods are now recognised as being important

orm an ecological perspective as remnants o an ecosystemthat once covered much o Iceland and as the source o organ-

isms to colonise new woodlands where birch is being used in

aorestation, thereby reclaiming that ecosystem.

Map showing the current birchwoods (dark green) and areas with mean sum-

mer temperatures o at least 9C (middle green) and 7.6C (light green), which is

thought to be the pre-settlement limit o birch woodlands.

ForestryOrganised orestry is considered to have started in Iceland in

1899 with the planting o the Pine Stand at Thingvellir. Three

Danes; merchant marine captain Carl H. Ryder who perceived

the problems inherent in having no orest resource, orestry

proessor Carl V. Prytz who provided expertise and Christian E.

Flensborg, a young orester who did most o the work, were in-strumental in initiating orestry eorts in Iceland and lobbying

the parliament to adopt a orestry and soil conservation act. It

was adopted in 1907 and the Iceland Forest Service (IFS) was

established in 1908.

Ater an early phase o experiments with exotic tree species,

orestry eorts largely ocussed on protecting birch orest rem-

nants during the rst hal o the 20th century, with several orest

areas being acquired by the IFS or that purpose. They, along

with more recently acquired aorestation areas and experi-

mental orests comprise the National Forest system today.

Since about 1950, emphasis has been on aorestation through

planting trees. Planting by orestry societies and the IFS in-

creased greatly during the 1950s, reaching over 1.5 million

seedlings per year during 1960-62. The principal species

planted were exotic coniers: Picea abies, Picea sitchensis, Pinus

sylvestris, Pinus contorta and Larix sibirica. Planting declined a-

ter 1963 and remained at 500,000 to 1 million seedlings an-

nually rom 1963 to 1989. The period rom 1950 to 1990 was

a time when a great deal o experience was gained through

experimenting with dierent exotic species and provenances.

Aorestation through planting has increased again since 1990

to over 6 million seedlings annually since 2005, which corre-

sponds to an increase in planted area o 1000-1500 ha per year.

Planting o native birch has been increasing proportionate to

the total, comprising as much as 30% o seedlings planted in

some years. Larix sukaczewii (syn. L. sibirica var. sukaczewii) is

planted to roughly the same extent as native birch and Picea

sitchensis has recently gained a similar status.


4/12

4

Aforestation planting in Iceland by species in 2007. * Willow species include Salix

alaxensis, S. lanata, S. phyliciolia, S. hookeriana, S. borealis, S. caprea and several

others. Source: Icelandic Forestry 2007.

The IFS planted roughly hal the trees planted in Iceland upto 1990, mostly on Forest Service lands. With the exception

o some early direct seeding trials, this included practically

no native birch since most IFS enclosures were established

around remnants o birchwoods where natural regeneration

was usually sufcient. For example, the area o birch cover in

Hallormsstadur National Forest increased by 130 ha rom 1906

to 1995 without a single birch tree being planted and in spite

o 200 ha being converted to conier orest. The total extension

o birch within the enclosure was around 330 ha in 90 years, or

an average o 3.7 ha per year, more than doubling the original

orest area.

The other hal o trees planted up to 1990 was planted by or-

estry societies, which were mostly involved in aorestation o

treeless land. Since 1990, orestry societies have been the main

actors in the Land Reclamation Forest project, a co-operative

project between the Icelandic Forestry Association (an um-brella organisation or the local orestry societies), the Forest

SpeciesSeedlingsplanted 07

% of total

Larix sukaczewii 1,530,000 24.8%

Picea sitchensis 1,379,000 22.3%

Betula pubescens 1,368,000 22.2%

Pinus contorta 777,000 12.6%

Populus trichocarpa 332,000 5.4%

Salix spp.* 160,000 2.6%Picea engelmannii 149,000 2.4%

Sorbus aucuparia 89,000 1.5%

Betula pendula 85,000 1.4%

Alnus sinuata 68,000 1.1%

Picea glauca 60,000 1%

Other species 174,000 2,7%

Service, the Soil Conservation Service (both state agencies)

and the Ministry o Environment, within which about 1 million

seedlings are planted annually. The aim is to aorest eroded or

degraded land and 40-75% o seedlings planted annually have

been native birch even though it is not always the most eec-

tive tree species at reclaiming degraded or eroded land.

From its limited beginnings in 1970, state supported aoresta-tion on arms has become the main channel or aorestation

activity in Iceland, comprising about 80% o the aorestation

eort today. Originally, only arms located within the best areas

or aorestation were eligible to participate and the only goal

was establishment o plantations or wood production. Since

the mid 1990s, state support or arm aorestation has spread

to all parts o Iceland and aorestation goals have become vari-

able resulting in increased use o native birch and other species

not grown or wood production.

In recent years, there has also been increased recognition thatorestry entails more that aorestation by tree planting. As

plantations get older and a growing number o them are be-

coming noticeable in the landscape, it has become obvious to

most that a orest resource is developing in Iceland; still small

but growing in area at a rate o about 20% per decade. The

trees are growing well too, with current annual increments or

larch, spruce, pine and poplar oten ranging between 10 and

20 m3/ha/year on good sites.

Hallormsstaur National Forest.


5/12

5

Forestry LegislationLaws pertaining to orestry reect the act that orests orm a

very small part i the Icelandic landscape, the main policy points

being that existing orests should be protected and aoresta-

tion o treeless land is encouraged. To this end, the IFS also has

a mandate to educate and advise the public in orestry mat-

ters, which requires research. These goals have been in eectsince the rst Forestry Act o 1907. The goal o increasing orest

cover through aorestation is re-afrmed in the Regional Aor-

estation Projects Act o 2006, where or the rst time a concrete

goal o 5% orest and woodland cover o lowlands is set.

In recent years, checks have been put into place regarding

certain aspects o orestry through the Environmental Impact

Assessment Act and a regulation regarding use o exotic plant

species. These legal instruments are the results o EU directives;

in other words not the result o a perceived need within Ice-

land to put checks on orestry. Because o the costs involved,the Environmental Impact Assessment Act eectively puts a

ceiling o 200 ha on the size o aorestation areas and prevents

or at least discourages aorestation within protected areas.

Sitka spruce in Haukadalur National Forest

The orestry sectorThe Icelandic orestry sector went through major administrative

changes in 2007. The IFS, along with unding to the Icelandic

Forestry Association and a new project called Hekluskgar,

were moved rom the Ministry o Agriculture to the Ministry o

Environment, while the Regional Aorestation Projects as well

as partial control over IFS research unding remained in theMinistry o Agriculture (which became the Ministry o Fisheries

and Agriculture). The ull eects o these changes have yet to

come to light, but splitting the small orestry sector between

two ministries has not simplied administration (the stated aim

o the changes).

The IFSThe Iceland Forest Service (IFS) was established according to

the orestry and soil conservation act o 1907. It is the state

orestry authority in Iceland and is under the Ministry o Envi-ronment. The IFS manages over 40 national orests throughout

Iceland, totalling about 7000 ha or 5% o Icelandic orests and

woodlands. The majority o orest and woodland area within

the national orests is protected native birch woodland, but

there are also cultivated orests o various species, experimen-

tal orests, arboreta and outdoor recreation areas including 4

campgrounds. The national orests employ a ull-time sta o

around 30 people.

Until recently, the IFS was the main producer o tree seedlings

in Iceland, as between 1950 and 1990 the main emphasis o

the IFS was on aorestation through planting. Tree planting

has now become a minor part o IFS activities and seedling

production has been privatised.

Iceland Forest Research, located at Mgils near Reykjavik,

is the research division o the IFS. Traditionally, species and

provenance trials have been the mainstay o orest research in

Iceland and they are still important. In recent years however,


6/12

6

ecology has become an increasingly important eld o study

with a wide range o topics being looked at, including car-

bon and nutrient cycles, establishment problems, insect pests

and pathogens and the eects o aorestation on plant and

animal communities. Forest inventory has also increased in im-

portance, not the least due to the need or knowledge about

carbon stocks and sequestration. Other recent research topics

include growth and yield studies, climatic mapping and histori-cal and social aspects o orestry. For the majority o research

projects, emphasis is placed on them being directly applicable

to orest management planning and practice. Iceland Forest

Research has a proessional sta o 15.

Forestry extension and education is another unction o the IFS.

As an example, over 20 primary schools have become Forest

Schools through a project headed by the IFS to integrate as-

pects o orests and orestry into all parts o the school curricu-

lum. Each o these schools has adopted a orest stand within

walking distance o the school that serves as an extra class-room.

A Rowan in an Icelandic birch orest

Forestry SocietiesThe Icelandic Forestry Association (IFA) was ormed in 1930 and

is an umbrella organisation or 57 local orestry societies. These

are non-governmental volunteer organisations o people in-

terested in aorestation. Their eorts are mostly concentrated

around towns and villages, but some own quite large tracts o

orest land and some o the oldest cultivated orests originally

grown on treeless land belong to orestry societies.

Besides the Land Reclamation Forests program mentioned ear-

lier, local orestry societies are mostly concerned with manag-

ing older orests and woodlands or outdoor recreation, some

grow Christmas trees and some have small tree nurseries.

The IFA publishes the journal Icelandic Forestry, which comes

out in two volumes annually. It is the main orestry publica-

tion in Iceland and contains a mix o scientic papers and more

general articles. They also oer short courses in orestry related

subjects, an annual lecture series and orests walks aimed at

increasing public knowledge o and interest in orestry. The

IFA has roughly 7000 members, or about 2.5% o the Icelandic

population, making it by ar the largest environmental NGO inIceland.

Regional Aorestation ProjectsStarting with Hrasskgar in 1991, ve Regional Aorestation

Projects (RAPs) have now been established to cover all o Ice-

land. They are mini-agencies under the Ministry o Fisheries

and Agriculture but and their unction is to manage the state

grants scheme or aorestation on arms, each in its own re-

gion o the country. This includes making contracts with land-owners, aorestation planning, co-ordinating seedling pro-

duction and distribution, education and extension (usually in

co-operation with the IFS and the Agricultural University) anddistributing the grants.

Each arm aorestation grant covers 97% o establishment

costs, including encing, roads, site preparation, planting and

the rst thinning. It is the individual landowner who owns the

resulting orest stands and bears all legal responsibility. The

landowners also usually do the planting, thereby receiving part

o the grant as compensation or work. A orest-armer aor-

esting a large tract o land can earn what amounts to as much

as 2-3 months wages per year.

The ve RAPs were responsible or roughly 80% o planting in

Iceland in 2007. Around 700 arms currently participate in a-


7/12

7

orestation and/or establishing shelterbelts and there is a wait-

ing list to join. This is a total o over o Icelandic arms.

An example o arm aforestation

The Forest Owners AssociationThe Icelandic Forest Owners Association (FOA) was ormed in

1998 as a union to represent the views and concerns o orest

owners. It has a membership o over 700, consisting mostly

o orest owners participating in the RAPs. As a young organi-

sation, it is still in the process o dening itsel. The FOA has

a volunteer board o directors, a very small budget, one part-

time employee and no permanent headquarters. A signicant

part o the boards eorts to date have been in lobbying or

increased unding or orestry.

Forestry education at the AgriculturalUniversity o Iceland

The Agricultural University o Iceland, with its main campus at

Hvanneyri in West Iceland, started a orestry degree programme

in 2004. This marked the rst time that university level educa-

tion in orestry was oered in Iceland and was a milestone or

Icelandic orestry. The rst oresters with an Icelandic BSc in or-

estry graduated in spring 2007 and the rst MSc degree was

awarded in autumn o 2008.

Soil Conservation ServiceThe Soil Conservation Service (SCS) is the sister organisation to

the IFS. It works to prevent soil erosion and revegetate eroded

land. In recent years, use o woody plants in land reclamation

has increased, especially native birch and willows.

Hekluskgar (Hekla orests)A very large area north, west and south o the volcano Hekla

consists mostly o desertied land at airly low elevation. It was

wooded or the most part at the time o settlement, but theorests were elled and grazing along with blowing volcanic

ash caused severe erosion. Volcanic ash is not only a problem

immediately ater an eruption, in an open landscape it is blown

back and orth or years and can be the source o dust storms

or decades. In the shelter o a orest however, the ash quickly

settles, is not blown around and does not cause erosion.

An ambitious eort to reclaim orest and woodland around

Hekla was initiated in 2005. The aim is to aorest up to 100,000

hectares o land, primarily with native birch, in the hope o re-

ducing disturbance rom uture eruptions o Hekla. The Hek-

luskgar project is a joint eort o the Soil Conservation Service

and the Forest Service with participation o the Agricultural

University, Suurlandsskgar regional aorestation project, lo-

cal orestry societies and land owners.

Planting can oten be done mechanically in the Hekluskgar project.

Forest industry?Icelanders use the same amount o orest products as other

nations with a comparable standard o living, but they are al-

most all imported due to Icelands very small orest resource.

However, the market or uelwood never quite disappeared

and there are niche markets that can be supplied with wood


8/12

8

rom selection elling in the largest birch orests and thinning

in plantations. Examples include:

Birch replace logs

Birch and pine uelwood mostly used by pizzerias

Larch enceposts

Birch, larch and other species or handicrats

Larch, birch and spruce sawn wood in small quanti-

ties or special projects

Spruce poles or sh drying racks

Spruce and pine shavings or bedding or livestock.

Wood chips used in ootpaths, as mulch, etc.

Sale o uelwood rom the Iceland Forest Service has been increasing, mostly due to

an increase in the number o pizzerias with wood-red ovens.

It is perhaps inappropriate to use the term orest industry in

Iceland, but there are several small businesses that use wood

rom Icelandic orests in their production. As the orest resource

grows and more wood rom thinnings in plantations becomes

available, these businesses and others will be able to rely on

domestic sources o wood rather than imports. As this is be-

ing written (January 2009), the importance o domestic wood

sources has recently become abundantly clear, since bank ail-

ures have made importing wood difcult or the time being

and the all o the Krna means that imported wood will be

very expensive or some time to come.

Aorestation objectivesand aorestation planning

In general, Icelandic aorestation is planned and cultivated or-

ests managed with multiple-use objectives. These objectives

can best be described based on the our

principle unctions o orests: ecological

(ecosystem processes, habitats, wildlie),

economic (wood production, non-wood

products), protective (soil and water

conservation, shelter, sequestering CO2)

and social (recreation, spiritual).

In orest planning and management,

greater emphasis is oten placed on one

or two o these unctions and less em-

phasis on others, without ignoring them

entirely however. Within the RAPs, the

majority o aorestation plans to date

emphasize timber production as a pri-

mary goal within areas where timber

production is possible, the main timber

species being Larix sukaczewii, Picea sitchensis, Pinus contortaand Populus trichocarpa. In peripheral areas, emphasis is on

protective unctions and in some cases ecological restoration,

where the main species is native Betula pubescens, or on es-

tablishing shelterbelts, mostly with willows. A ew plans have

been drawn up emphasizing wildlie value, improved grazing

or livestock and outdoor recreation as well.

Fuelwood sales

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Tonnes

Splitting birch replace logs in Vaglaskgur National Forest


9/12

9

Outdoor recreation is an increasingly important service provided by orests.

The Iceland Forest Service has put orth a set o guidelines to

aorestation planners. Some points rom these guidelines are:

Tree species planted should be selected based pri-

marily on site conditions and the goals o aoresta-

tion on that site.

Planting o exotics within natural woodlands is dis-

couraged. Instead planting should be directed to-

ward treeless land to increase the total orest area.

Wetlands should not be drained or aorestation.

Care should be taken to avoid planting on sites o

special value. These include sites where rare species

have been ound or rare habitat types, archaeologi-

cal sites, special landscape eatures and much-visit-

ed sites with scenic vistas.

Planting species mixtures rather than monocultures

is recommended.

Forest edges should be designed specically so that

the cultivated orest blends as well as possible into

the landscape.

A combination o protective and social unctions is the aim o

Land Reclamation Forests. Since they are mostly close to pop-

ulation centres, these orests will become outdoor recreation

areas. In act, two orest areas originally cultivated on treeless

land in the 1950s and 60s, one near Reykjavik and the other

near Akureyri, annually receive over 400,000 visits, well over the

entire population o Iceland.

The management goal or the majority o national orests (IFS

lands) is simply protection o native orest and woodland eco-

systems. Outdoor recreation, timber production, ecosystemrestoration and research are also main goals in some IFS lands,

whereas erosion control and reclamation are the main aims on

land managed by the SCS.

There are no orests managed only or carbon sequestration

nor are there any plans or aorestation specically or that pur-

pose. However, carbon sequestration can be one o the man-

agement objectives o multiple-use cultivated orests.

Norway spruce planted in the shelter o Russian larch

So how is it going?Over a century o orestry activity in Iceland has yielded several

positive results and developments. We prevented the destruc-

tion o the last remnants o natural orests. We gained experi-

ence in orest management and cultivation o a number o tree

species. We gained scientically based knowledge o the bestprovenances to use and where to plant them. We have a great


10/12

10

deal o knowledge and experience with aorestation o treeless

land. We are beginning to develop a real multiple-use orest re-

source. Without a doubt, the most important outcome is that

there has been a change in attitude o the Icelandic people. A

century ago, most Icelanders had never seen a tree. Fity years

ago, ew Icelanders believed that trees o any size to speak o

could grow in Iceland. Planting trees was the harmless hobby

o a ew eccentrics, but orests or timber production were outo the question. Today, orestry or timber production, land

reclamation and amenity is being carried out by thousands o

people all over Iceland.

The good growth o several tree species has probably been

most important in changing peoples attitude towards orest-

ry. The native Betula pubescens generally grows slowly, rarely

reaching more than 13 m in height and the mean annual incre-

ment is almost always well below 1 m3 /ha/yr. Based on this, it

is no wonder that people did not consider orestry to be a real-

istic possibility in Iceland. Several exotic species planted in the1950s and earlier, including Picea abies, P. engelmannii, P. glauca,

Pinus cembra, Abies lasiocarpa, Betula pendula, Larix decidua and

Pseudotsuga menziesiiare reasonably well adapted to Icelandic

conditions and will all grow to be much larger than the na-

tive birch. The tallest trees o all these species are between 17

and 21 m in height and they will all grow to well over 20 m in

the coming years. With the exception oPseudotsuga menziesii,

they are all used to a limited extent in Icelandic orestry, but are

not among the major species because o their relatively slow

growth or limited experience with them.

The major species used in orestry are, in addition to the native

Betula pubescens, Larix sukaczewii, Picea sitchensis, Pinus contorta

and Populus trichocarpa. They have all reached at least 20 m

in height and show mean annual increments ranging rom 5

to 15 m3/ha/yr. The tallest tree in Iceland is a 24.5 m Populus

trichocarpa (at right), ollowed closely by Picea sitchensis at 23

m and Larix sukaczewiiat 22 m. Based on growth curves, Larix

sukaczewiiand Pinus contorta will certainly reach 25 m height

on good sites by age 100 years and Picea sitchensis and Populus

trichocarpa at least 30m.

However, 100 years o orestry have not resulted in much exten-

sion o orest area. The native birch woodlands have expanded

through natural regeneration within enced areas but there has

been little or no expansion in areas not specically protected

rom grazing. Thus, natural expansion o birchwoods has been

very limited and will continue to be so as long as the tradition

o uncontrolled sheep grazing continues.

For several reasons, planting has not resulted in large land areas

being aorested either, compared to the area o potential or-

est land in Iceland. Up to the mid 1980s, land was not availableor aorestation because o competition by other land use,

especially grazing. Forest establishment is expensive and ew

individuals have the nancial resources to invest in aoresting

large amounts o land. Planting by orestry societies was al-

ways constrained by lack o money as was planting by the IFS.

State aorestation grants were rst oered in the early 1970s

but were extremely limited until the 1990s. Due to these con-

straints, aorestation o relatively large areas has only started

within the last 20 years.

The act remains that Iceland has a very small population

(320,000) compared to the area o the country (103,000 km 2,

o which at least 30,000 km2 can potentially be aorested). For

this reason alone, aorestation through planting, as a propor-

tion o total land area, will proceed slowly. Total aorestation

planting has been 1000-1500 ha per year during the last 15

years. At that rate, it will take 50 years to plant trees on 1% o

Icelands land area. The RAPs are acing a 20% budget cut and

the Hekluskgar project 50% in 2009 due to the nancial crisis.

This will certainly lead to a reduced rate o aorestation that

may last or several years, depending on how long the depres-sion lasts.


11/12

11

The utureAspects that the orestry sector has some control over, such

as planting trees, could possibly lead to a doubling o orest

and woodland area o Iceland within the next hal century, al-

though that is by no means certain. However, other actors are

likely to have greater and more ar-reaching eects. Land-use

change, specically a decline in sheep arming, is likely to resultin increased natural regeneration and extension o birchwoods

to areas that have been treeless or centuries. Climate change

(global warming) could conceivably lead to ar greater chang-

es. A warmer climate would allow both natural extension o

woodland and aorestation through planting to reach areas at

higher elevations than has been possible previously, expand-

ing the potential orest area and allowing us to reclaim large

areas o eroded land to woodland.

The uture i Icelandic orestry is bright. The main obstacle, the

psycological one, has been overcome. In comparison, nancial

and technical obstacals are easy to deal with.

Principal reerencesBlndal, S. and Gunnarsson, S.B.

1999. slandsskgar (Icelands Forests) Reykjavik: Ml og Mynd:

267 pp.

Grmsson, Frigeir, Thomas Denk, and Leifur A. Smonarson.

2007. Middle Miocene oras o Iceland the earlycolonization o an island?. Review o Palaeobotany &

Palynology 144, no. 3/4: 181-219.

Gunnarsson, E.

2008. Skgrktarri 2007; (Forestry in 2007). Icelandic For-Skgrktarri 2007; (Forestry in 2007). Icelandic For-Icelandic For-

estry 2008 vol. 2: 98-101.

Halldrsson, G. (ed.).

2006. Skgarbk Grnni Skga. ( Thr orest book or Greener

Forests). Agricultural University o Iceland. 248 pp.

Snorrason, A. and S.F. Einarsson.

2002. Land capability or orestry in Iceland. Icelandic Forest

Research report no. 14/2002, 68 pp.

Thorarinsson. Th.

1974. jin lii en skgurinn d (The nation lived but the

orest died). Icelandic Forestry 1974: 16-27.


12/12

12

Forestryin a Treeless Land

2009

Innovatively investingin Europes NorthernPeriphery for a sustainableand prosperous future

European Union

European Regional Development Fund

Documents

Forestry in Treeless Land 2009