Environment

Iceland Reforestation

A warming climate is helping efforts in Iceland to restore the forests that once thrived before the seafaring Vikings colonized the island and razed its forests more than 1,000 years ago.

Nearly 97 percent of the native birch were felled to make way for farming as well as to build homes for the European settlers.

Iceland’s cool climate and volcanic eruptions have hampered efforts in the past to restore the forests.

But climate change is now allowing the birch to be planted along with non-native lodgepole pines and Sitka spruces, which grow more quickly.

Those species were also chosen for their ability to capture carbon and help Iceland mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions.