We’re Bringing Back Iceland’s Forgotten Forests

this is iceland a magic nordic island surviving the elements in the rough north atlantic its multitude of breathtaking landscapes are the stuff of dreams and they're also home to various species of wildlife that thrive amongst the volcanoes the glaciers and the sea however not all is well over the course of its history the island has been slowly stripped of its forest cover which has resulted in soil degradation and desertification which is why a few months ago we decided to plant our very own native icelandic forest to restore this area right here and today i'm really excited to show you the progress you've made in planting the first 50 000 trees as well as tell you how we somehow ended up in a silly controversy that landed us on national news but before we get into all that i want to tell you a bit more about the fascinating ecology of iceland so that you understand why it is so crucial for us to plant trees here and also to give you an idea of what our forest might look like in the future in this relatively small island you'll find green valleys and mountains with herds of wild reindeer geothermal lands where the heat of the earth comes to the surface moon-like deserts and large beaches of fine black sand seaside cliffs teeming with puffins and other sea birds glacial lakes with icebergs offering shelter to seals and turns arctic foxes searching for birds and hidden nests fjords rich in fish and of course the gentle giants of the ocean but something is missing from this list this volcanic wonderland used to be covered in trees well not fully covered but it is estimated that before humans got here about 25 to 40 percent of iceland was covered in forests just like this one here over time the forests have gradually disappeared and the quality of the soil has degraded severely leaving us with the current tree coverage figure of about two percent give or take to make matters worse the high winds and arid soils often result in sand storms that further degrade the land and cause damage to farms and properties the certification has gotten so bad that almost 40 percent of iceland is desert composed of a mix of sand and volcanic glass without trees there is nothing to protect the soil from the heavy winds and also no real vegetation to help store water add excessive sheep grazing to that list and you have the perfect recipe for a degraded ecosystem that simply cannot start its recovery it is a bit of a chicken or the egg situation but we believe that with projects like ours we can help turn this trend around so now let's take a closer look at one of iceland's last standing native forests to give you an idea of how this ecosystem looks and also to show you what our project could look like in the coming years the largest birch woods in iceland can be found here in harlem stature in the east of the country this area is quite forested and it has pockets of native icelandic woodlands composed predominantly of birch rowan aspen and tea leaved willow here in harlem stature the most dominant species is of course the birch and the native parts of this forest provide us with a great example of what a mature icelandic forest might look like so let me show you around when entering this forest the taller and older trees are the first and most obvious thing you notice i mean iceland mostly looks like this and its forests often look like this so seeing an older birchwood is rather different the canopy is also closed up so that you actually feel as if you're in a real forest then in the understory you will find beautiful flowers a rich carpet of moss and fungi popping up everywhere so one of the things that we only find in old growth forests is dead wood and the microcosm of life that takes advantage of that habitat deadwood is essential because it helps create soil but in addition to that it also harbors a variety of species including insects but of course also lichen moss and beautiful fungi the forest also provides shelter to all kinds of birds that don't fare as well out in the open so there's quite a big difference between this and this our planting area they should both look the same but as you can see there is a lot of work to be done so hopefully now you understand why these trees are so crucial and why we want to plant our very own native icelandic forest now before i show you our planting area and before i explain to you how we made national news i think that some of you who are new around here might be wondering how we get the time and the money to do all this and that is a really important question so let me explain here at muscle earth we run a membership that aims to reforest and rewild the landscape we do so through a variety of projects including regular tree planting in places like iceland the danube or the carpathians but also extending to rewilding projects such as flooding forests to create wetlands reintroducing missing species and even helping create kelp forests in the ocean among many other such projects i think it is really fun but above all of course it is impactful and it is actually pretty cheap to join the membership starts at the price of a fancy ice sundae craft beer or a couple of boxes of round so if you're interested in becoming a member and supporting projects like this one you can head over to mossy.earth to see what we're all about there'll be a link in the description and also in a pinned comment down below so the plot of land that the icelandic forest service had initially assigned to us and the one that i showed you in the last video was here in the west of the country unfortunately the team were forced to suspend the planting there after only six thousand trees got planted because they received the complaint basically what happened was that someone complained about an access road to the planting site being fixed up and the local council temporarily suspended the planting so yeah it seems that even the government runs into bureaucracy sometimes now precisely because we work with the government's forest service this was not a big issue and they quickly assigned us a new plot of land here about 120 kilometers east of reykjavik then to our amusement just the other day one of our members came across an article in the morgun blooded iceland's morning newspaper this article got into the juicy ins and outs of the planting location change but for us what was cool was that it highlighted the fact that we are focused on planting native species and the fact that we prioritize that over any carbon sequestration goals that was spot on those native trees come from this nursery here and the species that we are planting are of course the same mix as the native forests so that is predominantly birch like this batch right here and then also rowan and tea leafed willow our new planting area is on the side of scritehville which is a hill with an elevation of 270 meters located just south of selkletar mountain in the south of iceland as with much of the country the planting area is stunning with its own meandering river and a small waterfall on the side of the valley so as you can see our planting area consists of patches of eroded soil such as this one behind me as well as patches of lupine which is a really interesting plant it is invasive and it spreads rapidly but it also improves the quality of the soil and it looks really good and it smells really good so there's been quite a bit of debate in iceland as to whether people should let it spread or whether they should get rid of it so i'm actually quite curious what you guys think so please let me know in the comments below we are for sure making a video about this plant as it's a really interesting story so i'll be using some of those comments in the next video as a side note if you're a member and you want to take a better look at the area you can log into your account and browse the map here to see the lay of the land and then you can also check out the various 360 degree photos from different perspectives so we actually decided to plant 50 000 of these trees in this planting area right here and that is in addition to the 6000 that were already planted in the other area before of course the planting got suspended in terms of wildlife in the area we caught a glimpse of an arctic fox on a ridge but we couldn't really film it and besides that we saw many birds such as this one here which made a really peculiar sound every time it descended so we have our theories from some googling and i think we got it right but i'm always curious to hear how do you think they make that sound and also why do they make it all of this is already really exciting and if we stop now these 56 000 trees would be making an impact on the landscape but we eventually want to plant millions so for us this is just the first step now next year we know that we can double triple or even quadruple the planting numbers from this year because we have so many new members coming in through the youtube videos we have been making but we also want to do something new so with the money received from our members between june and september next year we will be planting trees here in iceland so if you remember you're planting trees here in iceland but in addition to that we also want to open things up so that you as a member can buy additional trees to be planted with next year's batch to plant extra trees here as a member simply head over to your account at mossy dot there in the extra trees tab you'll be able to well pay for extra trees we set the price at 2 euros but we believe the final cost per tree we'll achieve will be significantly lower so our goal will be to simply use 80 of the money for impact and if there's any leftover cash after we plant all the trees it will be added to the funding of a future rewilding project here in iceland such as an ambitious wetland restoration project in the highlands i think this project is a perfect example of tree planting done right because it contributes to the rewilding of an area and for me personally i'm really excited to be here in iceland and to see all of this amazing area that that we're trying to restore and to picture how will all of this look when it's covered in trees and and i hope to come here in 20 30 years and be walking in in a forest so all of this is only possible because of our members i've said it many times in this video and i'm sorry if i repeat myself a lot but the funding we get from our members is crucial it's what makes this work here possible so if you're already a member please remember to you know tell a friend ask a family member if they would like to become a member and if you're not hit a member please check out our website we have loads of things that you can read about how our membership works we have so many different projects and if you're still not sure if you'd like to become a member you can even book a call with someone in the team to chat about the projects so again a really big thank you and i look forward to showing you how this project progresses over the years until next time cheers

Channel: Mossy Earth

Views: 330,704

Keywords: iceland, rewilding iceland, iceland reforestation, reforesting iceland, tree planting iceland, iceland forests, iceland volcano, iceland wildlife, iceland wilderness, tree planting Iceland, reykjavik, reforestation efforts in iceland, iceland animals wildlife, iceland wildlife documentary, iceland wildlife photography, iceland rewilding, viking forests, birch forest, birch reforestation, iceland nature video, Iceland nature restoration, replanting iceland, Iceland Rewilding

Id: K-r2EetCtO0

Length: 10min 56sec (656 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 04 2022