In fact, Iceland boasted countless forests before the Vikings colonised the country and razed the lush woods to the ground. Historians believe that the vikings set off from Norway in the ninth century to invade Iceland. At that time, forests covered around a quarter of the island.
The Viking settlers proceeded to cut down no less than an estimated 97% of the forests and used the wood as building material. The new spaces were used as grazing pastures.
Centuries later, the lack of trees still poses a considerable threat to Iceland’s ecosystems: there is no vegetation to protect the soil from eroding and store water, which is increasingly triggering desertification of the mesmerising island.
Restoration efforts have kicked off in the 1950s and are still ongoing. Iceland hopes to cover 12% of the land in forest by 2100.
