Organisation:- The Tour was made at the kind
invitation of the Icelandic Forestry Association and ran from the
10th July, when we arrived at Keflavik Airport, until the 22nd July,
the day of our departure. The program was arranged by Mr Jon Geir
Petursson of that organisation and our Tour Leader was Mr Thorarinn
Benedikz of the Iceland Forest Research Branch, to whom we are
greatly indebted for his unwaivering patience in answering our
eternal questions with facts, figures and details on every occasion,
and also for showing us so much of this beautiful country.
We are grateful too, to the Foresters and Forest Officers who
provide the "stage-setting" for the Tour in their own forests by
showing us examples of Icelandic sylviculture in action.
We are also indebted to our bus driver from S.B.K. Coaches,
Keflavik, namely Sigurthur Viljalmsson, who seemed to be taking his
bus where no person had taken a bus before, and without whom we
would never have got to the places we visited.
We were shown how forestry is carried out in Iceland. We were
taken on a tour of every region in the country. We saw the problems
confronting Icelandic foresters and how they were tackled. The
experience was fascinating, the geological wonders of nature were
awe inspiring and the privilege of seeing other people’s
sylviculture was, as always, stimulating.
But perhaps the thing which will remain longest in our memories
will be the warmth and kindness shown to us by all those Icelanders
on whom we called. Their hospitality was overwhelming.
Background:- In the 6th and 7th Centuries Irish monks set
up small communities in Iceland. Permanent settlements of Viking
people started in Iceland in the latter part of the 9th Century. The
early settlers brought with them sheep and horses.
The most successful tree to withstand the ice-ages in Iceland was
Birch (Betula pubescens) and there was some Willow
and Rowan also. There were early records of forests from coast to
coast.
The settlers developed no plans for forest management. Wood was
cut to provide firewood, building material and charcoal for iron
smelting. Scythes were made of iron, not steel, and in the summer
required constant retempering for cutting the harvest. This required
large quantities of wood. Forests were also cleared for grazing.
With the gradual loss of tree cover, the lack of any measures to
aid regeneration and the constant grazing of sheep and horses, the
forest area diminished and virtually disappeared.
As the forests went, the ground became denuded and there are now
actual areas of desert. The main aim of Icelandic sylviculture in
the 20th Century is to establish forests once more. Built in to this
policy is the making available of access to the public, wherever
possible, and encouragement to the people to take an interest in
their forests.
