Review of Land Improvement Plans as Part of the Implementation of the Regulation on Sustainable Land Use

The Regulation covers four categories of land use: grazing, arable farming, development activities, and the movement of people and vehicles. It sets out criteria for each category and describes how to assess whether land use can be considered sustainable.

An important part of the implementation concerns the preparation of land improvement plans. Where land use is assessed as not being sustainable, Land and Forest Iceland will provide guidance to the landowner or land rights holder on the preparation of such a plan. These plans must include, among other things, information about the land and its use, proposed land improvement measures, and how the effectiveness of those measures will be evaluated.

Please note that, under the Regulation, all land improvement plans currently in force, including those prepared as part of the quality management scheme for sheep farming, must be reviewed by 31 December 2026. A key priority for Land and Forest Iceland is therefore to determine where existing plans need to be revised or renewed, or whether land use in the relevant areas can now be regarded as sustainable.

This assessment is based on the best available information on land condition, including remote sensing data, satellite imagery, data from the Grólind monitoring project, and more detailed field inspections where necessary.

Land and Forest Iceland places great emphasis on effective consultation throughout the process, ensuring that landowners, land rights holders and other stakeholders have the opportunity to provide information and share their views. Relevant parties will be contacted over the coming months.

Once the review of existing land improvement plans has been completed, work will continue on assessing the sustainability of land use in other parts of the country.