Alþjóðlegt samráðsþing um jarðvegsvernd á Selfossi þann 31. ágúst 2007
Mr chairman, distinguished guests.
I welcome you to this important gathering here in Selfoss to deliberate on Soils Society and Global change. It is a pressing and timely subject. At the same time we use the occasion here in Iceland to reflect on our efforts in restoring our damaged ecosystem during the last century.
At the turn of the nineteenth century many things were happening simultaneously. Icelanders were reassessing their ties to the Danish state and its Monarch, home rule was established in 1904, independence followed in 1918 and the establishment of the republic in 1944.
A law on forestry including the fight against soil erosion and moving sand was passed in Althingi on the 22nd of November 1907. The law marked the onset of systematic public efforts in these fields although some initiatives had been taken earlier.
Ungmennafélag Íslands, the Youth Society of Iceland, was founded that same year 1907. Chapters within the Youth Society were formed in all districts of the country. The emphasis was upon cultural and physical education, voluntary work in land betterment through tree planting and revegetation efforts. There was a general awakening. Optimism and commitment to improvement swept the country.
The law on Forestry and on combating erosion is therefore closely linked to the resurrection of the Icelandic nation led by Hannes Hafstein, the first Icelandic minister under home rule. Hannes Hafstein was a visionary and a poet and galvanised the nation with his vision of improved life. The cornerstone was judicious use of natural resources of land and sea.
His poem Aldamótaljóð, Ode to the new Century, is often cited especially these two verses.:
The time will come, Iceland, when you will arise
from the depths of the ages, your birthright the prize.
Your energy will burst forth where hidden it lies,
your rocks clad once more in growth?s colourful guise.
The time will come when the land?s wounds are healed,
the countryside thriving, the moors clad with fields,
sons harvesting bread that the fertile soil yields,
culture will bloom in the new forest?s shield.
The task was overwhelming. Erosion was rampant following a very cold and difficult century. Only small remains were left of the natural birch forests. They are estimated to have covered a quarter of the land surface at the time of settlement in the ninth century, Overexploitation was still present through the harvest of firewood and increased grazing pressure. The nation prevailed while the forests died.
Icelanders have a long tradition of seeking knowledge in other countries and adapting ideas and processes to national circumstances. It was therefore natural that Hannes Hafstein recruited a Danish forester, Agnar Kofoed Hansen, to shape and lead the new Forestry and land reclamation institute . Kofoed Hansen had wide experience in reforestation including sand dune containment in the Baltic countries. The experience and successes gained through establishing the windbreaks that saved the western districts of Jutland in Denmark was an inspiration for the work facing the Icelanders.
Kofoed-Hansen was keenly aware of the special nature of the Icelandic soils and wrote a remarkable treatise on the loessial characteristics of these soils and their propensity for erosion and the significance this had for the possibilities of tree growth. He received an offer of an honorary doctorate from the University of Krakow in Poland for this treatise. This is one of the first serious scientific papers on the special nature of Icelandic soils that have received increased attention in latter years.
The work of the Forestry Service evolved in two main directions, on the one hand traditional forestry including management and trials with new introduced species, and on the other hand was the tough struggle to halt the extensive soil erosion and sand movement. It was deemed that these tasks would be best handled in two separate organisations and so it has been since 1914. However, the two sister organisations the Forestry Service of Iceland and the Soil Conservation Service with common roots in the law from 1907 share many goals and aspirations and cooperate extensively on many issues.
The headquarters for the Soil Conservation Service was built in the eye of the storm, literally, at the historic farm Gunnarsholt which had been abandoned because of serious sandstorms that had ravaged the formerly fertile farmland. Black basalt sand filled the air and destroyed the vegetation.
Gap vas Ginnunga en gras hvergi
There was a great dark void and no grass
to quote the ancient poem Völuspá or Prophecy.
This afternoon and evening we will visit Gunnarsholt. Our chairman and director of the Soil Conservation Service, Sveinn Runólfsson, will be our host and you will witness the transformation of land that was almost completely barren to the productive farmland that it is today.
To restore the whole of Iceland to good farmland that would sustain a productive farming community and growing urban population was the aim set forth at the beginning of the last century. In large districts this has been successful and the Icelandic people keenly follow the work and successes of this centennial effort.
Energy, dedication, and enthusiasm are but a few of the positive adjectives that can be used in praise of the staff of the Soil Conservation Service. There has always been a new frontier mindset and courage to enter new paths to improve on the results in containing the destructive forces of sand movement and revegetate barren land.
Due praise must also be given to the sister organisations that have worked closely with the Soil Conservation Service in research and innovation relating to sustainable land use and land reclamation. The efforts of the Agricultural University of Iceland and its predecessor, the Agricultural Research Institute have contributed in no small measure to the success of this work. The Agricultural Advisory service and farmers also deserve recognition for their role in large land reclamation projects. Here the spirit from the Youth movement is still vibrantly alive.
Lastly homage is gratefully given to persons and institutes of learning in other countries. Virtually all our scientific staff seeks their education abroad leading to an exchange of ideas and new approaches. This has significantly impacted the progress made here in Iceland.
It is especially gratifying to be able to reciprocate by introducing this Icelandic model to international community in this important forum. We believe that the development of this work in our special environment may hold some interesting features that may be fruitfully employed in many of the developing countries that face the threats of desertification in much the same way as Icelanders did at the start of last century.
The Icelandic government has decided that development cooperation will play a more significant role in the foreign policy of Iceland in the coming years. Our most successful examples of such cooperation are those where we share our own experience and know-how with countries that are now in a position akin to that which we experienced ourselves almost within living memory of present day Icelanders.
Through the initiative of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs a project has been launched in education and training in cooperation with the developing countries. We wish to share our experiences with others who find themselves in a similar position to Icelanders at the beginning of the twentieth century. This model in development cooperation has been successfully applied in the fields of fisheries and geothermal energy utilisation.
It is therefore with a particular pleasure for us today to welcome a small group of young professionals from five countries that are taking part in a training course in soil conservation. This is a first small step towards a fully-fledged training programme that may within few years become a part of the United Nations University and the family of capacity building programmes.
I extend my welcome and gratitude to you all for attending and contributing to this forum. I wish you success with your important work.