Me

Apparently it wasnt even deserted before the vikings migrated there a thousand years ago. I guess they needed a lot of wood for building their settlements and whole areas were cleared for farming and raising sheep. It was about 25 - 40% forested.

So you got all that from a little video huh

Sléttufoss nearby the farm Slétta in Reyðarfjörður

Fossá

@@LowerTheBoom cool

Soon South Greenland will also have big intentionally planted forests.

Most of it is natural though. When the vikings came to Iceland a good portion of it (you will see esimates like 25% or 40%) were covered by birch (Betula pubescens) woodlands and forests. Other trees either didn't form forests (Sorbus aucuparia ) or were very rare (Populus tremula). Due to cutting and grazing the woodlands, and our vegetation and soil resources over all, declined. At the end of the 19th century only 1% of Iceland was covered by birch woodlands and forests. Then the Forestry Service was founded (along with the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland) and it started protecting woodlands and forests around Iceland, among them Hallormsstaðaskógur which you can see in the video. It also began planting non-native trees. Today Iceland´s birch forests have grown little, cover around 1.5% of the country, largely due to reduced grazing and improved climate. Iceland also has a fledgling timber industry, with tree plantations covering around 0.4% of the country, largely formed by non-native trees. Hallormsstaðaskógur is among these recovering forests. It has increased its cover through increased birch cover and non-native trees have been planted around and to some extent into the existing birch forest.

Almost, about 70% of the forest, when the area was protected by the government in the early 20th century, there were natural remnants of a birch forest dating back to the time of settlement.

This video is taken in March

This is in Laugarfell in East Iceland. Here is the website: laugarfell.is/

Hi mocheni! Did u manage to ski east iceland and could share some beta? Best Paul

They are both great countries !

Iceland is not in Scandinavia