Originally, a third of Iceland was covered by birch forest. In the ninth century Norwegian settlers arrived and required the trees for building and firewood. The fragile tree population has never recovered. To make matters worse, trees only grow 20 cm a year during their first five years due to the low temperatures and long periods of darkness. For about a hundred years, the Icelanders have been attempting to reforest their island. In the last decade alone, the wooded area of the island has doubled: about one percent of the total area is now covered by forest again.
Our client took part in this mammoth task, part of the existing renaturation project, by planting 10,000 seedlings in one “action” day.