Land and forest Iceland
Annual Icelandic Forestry Conference completed on the International Day of Forests
21st March 2024
Participants at the Fagráðstefna skógræktar (Annual Icelandic Forestry Conference) which ended in Hof, Akureyri, today, were very pleased with the event. The Forestry Encouragement Award was awarded for the first time at the conference and the first to be receive the prize was Sigurður Arnarson for his articles on trees and forests.
A total of 140 people attended the conference and it was considered a success in all regards, an informative and diverse event. The conference was recorded and you can watch it in whole on the Land and Forest Iceland's YouTube channel.
At the first day of the conference, the Forestry Encouragement Award was presented for the first time. The award was presented to Sigurdur Arnarson for his informative and diverse writings on forests and forestry on the website of the Eyjafjörður Forestry Association. The award came in the form of a certificate of recognition along with a bowl made of pruning wood from a grey poplar tree in Hafnarfjörður, and an Alaska cypress seedling, grown in Sólskógar plant nursery out of a seed from a tree growing in Kjarnaskógur forest. An election was held to choose between three candidates which a jury had chosen for a final from several dozens of nominations from the public. In addition to Sigurdur, Waldorf School in Lækjarbotn was nominated for integrating forestry into school activities and Steinar Björgvinsson and Árni Þórólfsson for education and the development of recreational forests.
The award was presented in conjunction with the International Day of Forests, which was decided by the UN General Assembly in 2012 to be held on 21 March every year. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. The Forestry Encouragement Award is a collaboration between the Icelandic Forestry Association, the Farmers’ Association and Land and Forest Iceland.
Happy International Day of Forests!
