Annually, grants are allocated from the Landbótasjóður Land Reform Fund with the aim of bringing responsibility and implementation of land reclamation projects back to the districts with direct financial support and advice to landowners, municipalities, associations and other keepers of land.

Applications for grants from the Fund were called for in early January, resulting in a total of 98 applications received. 92 projects proved acceptable for support and the highest grant this year amounts to ISK 6.1 million. The average amount of grants is approximately ISK 1.1 million. The results of the allocation are currently being sent to the recipients via the Iceland.is website.

Roles in the partnership

The role of the beneficiaries in this cooperation with Land and Forest Iceland is to supply all necessary inputs such as fertilisers, artificial or organic. Also to arrange for the distribution of the fertilisers, to carry out GPS mapping and return the data to Land and Forest together with information on the quantity of fertilisers distributed.

The role of Land and Forest Iceland is to advise on the projects, supply seeds where it is considered necessary, manage all geographical information (GPS et cetera) on the projects and after completing the work to pay out the granted funds.

Land and forest Iceland evaluates the cost of all the projects. This is an attempt to ensure equality between those applying to the Fund. Higher grants are allocated to those initiating projects in areas free from livestock grazing than those in grazed areas. A majority of the applications are for projects that will be carried out on the volcanic zones of the country and thus the majority of the grants will be allocated to those areas.

Key figures

Here are some interesting figures on the projects that are coming up this year with the support of the Landbótasjóður Land Reform Fund. They give a glimpse about the nature of the projects.

• Grants for fertiliser distribution - around 3,300 ha.

• Sowing of grass or lyme grass seeds - about 500 ha.

• Distribution of organic fertilisers - around 400 ha.

• Distribution of hay rolls - about 2,100 units.

• Planting of birch - about 92,000 seedlings.

Further information on the beneficiaries and the amount of funding will be published later here on the Land and Forest Iceland website.

• Landbótasjóður set of rules (in Icelandic only)