Land and Forest Iceland
Forest restoration - Bonn Challenge
Forestry projects have increasingly focused on restoring degraded landscapes to reduce soil erosion, improve environmental quality, and enhance recreational opportunities. A key priority is the expansion of birch woodlands together with native rowan and willow species to support the natural development and resilience of woodland ecosystems.
The Hekla Forests project aims to establish birch forests and willow thickets around Mount Hekla in order to reduce pumice drift following volcanic eruptions and combat soil erosion. The project is based on research conducted by the forester Úlfur Óskarsson and officially began in 2005 through collaboration between landowners, forestry associations, and public institutions.
The project area covers approximately 90,000 hectares, equivalent to around 1% of Iceland’s total land area. Much of the Hekluskógar region is poorly vegetated and highly susceptible to erosion. The work is carried out in three stages:
halting sand drift and revegetating severely eroded land;
establishing birch and willow vegetation to support the development of natural woodland;
encouraging the natural expansion of woodland ecosystems over the coming decades.
Numerous volunteers, organisations, and schools have participated in the project, which contributes to the restoration of the birch woodlands that once helped protect the area from volcanic ash during eruptions of Mount Hekla and other nearby volcanoes.
Thorlák’s Forests is a relatively new forest restoration project on Hafnarsandur, carried out in cooperation with the Municipality of Ölfus. The aim is to establish forests that will shelter the town of Þorlákshöfn from strong winds and help prevent soil erosion, while also creating natural woodlands and valuable commercial forests on previously barren land for the benefit of both nature and people, including opportunities for outdoor recreation.
In addition, forest restoration projects are underway in Þingeyjarsýsla in north-east Iceland as part of the Bonn Challenge. The areas concerned have been the subject of land reclamation efforts for decades.
Finally, a Bonn Challenge project is currently being prepared on the Reykjanes Peninsula in south-west Iceland.
Land Reclamation Forests are afforestation and reclamation projects carried out by forestry associations in cooperation with Land and Forest and the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate. The project aims to reclaim barren and poorly vegetated areas with forests. To this end, about 1 million tree seedlings have been planted annually since 1990.
The project includes about 100 afforestation areas around the country, mostly on land owned by municipalities, the state, or forestry associations. Registered agreements are made for these areas, ensuring that they are open to the public for outdoor activities. The forestry associations are responsible for land selection, protection, planting, and forest maintenance, which has resulted in many areas now being ideal for hiking and outdoor recreation.
More information on the website of the Icelandic Forestry Association