The agreement covers, on the one hand, the Espiholt Experimental Forest, launched in 1989 in collaboration with Icelandic and Canadian institutions, and on the other hand, the LT-project, which began in 2002 with mixed tree plantings in Ketluskógur and Spámannsstaðaskógur. Both projects have in recent years been operated in an informal partnership, but the new agreement secures a clear framework for the future regarding roles, responsibilities, and use of the research sites.

Among other provisions, the agreement establishes a joint steering committee responsible for managing the sites and ensures that the research infrastructure will remain open to new projects and competitive research funding.

The agreement was signed on Friday, September 26, by Ágúst Sigurðsson, Director of Land and Forest Iceland, and Ragnheiður Þórarinsdóttir, Rector of the Agricultural University of Iceland.

The accompanying photographs, taken by Professor Bjarni Diðrik Sigurðsson of the Agricultural University at the research site in Gunnarsholt, show work being carried out in the aspen forest. The images illustrate some of the unusual methods required for such research. Perhaps the most striking is the technique seen in the final photo, where a shotgun is used to collect branches from high in the tree canopy.