Dear Ms. Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to address this meeting on the important topic of land degradation, desertification - on its multiple causes and effects on nature and society. It is a great honor to have Ms. Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification here with us and to have the opportunity to learn and discuss with you the important challenge of desertification as a worldwide challenge. 

The Convention to combat desertification – UNCCD is one of the three fundamental international agreements originating from the important Rio Conference in 1992, addressing great challenges to sustainable development. Desertification has destructive effects on ecosystems and poses threat to societies around the world. 

The convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. This has sparked some discussion about the definition of the term desertification and the scope of the convention. This is of interest of us here in Iceland. The fact is that many ways, the challenges addressed by the Convention reflect the history of Icelandic soils, ecosystems and society. 

The climate in Iceland, strongly influenced by the warm Gulf Stream, is described as cold temperate in the lowlands and sub-arctic in the highlands. The land is humid in most areas with rainfall varying between 600 and 2000 mm pr. year. In large tracts of the north-east the land receives less than 600 mm pr. year. 

Despite these facts a large percentage of Iceland‘s terrestrial ecosystems has been devastated since the settlement.  Eruptions and ash lowered the temperature locally and regionally. The consequence has been the formation of landscapes which are almost totally barren. The Icelandic language has a term for this type of landscapes. The term “auðn” is related to the term “auður” in the meaning empty or deserted. We also have the term “eyðimörk” to describe this phenomenon which can be translated as deserted wilderness or even deserted woods.

In the beginning of the 20th century, land degradation was recorded on most of Icelandic lands and almost all of our forests and woodlands were lost. 

In 1997 the Agriculture Research Institute and the Soil Conservation Service presented the results from the mapping of soil erosion in Iceland. The results show that severe erosion is widespread in our country.

The pioneering legislation from 1907 on Forestry and Protection against Soil Erosion was a major milestone in Icelandic efforts to address land degradation. On the basis of this legislation, the government established specific authorities to work on these issues. One of them gradually developed into the current Soil Conservation Service, which is acknowledged as the first such specific authority worldwide.  The 100 years of organized work to combat soil erosion is a story of great efforts, which we are proud to communicate to others. It is also the basis of the establishment of the international Land Restoration Training Program we run in collaboration with the United Nations University. The effort by a few pioneers to halt marching sand dunes a century ago has gained new relevance for Iceland and for global issues.

We see the potential collaboration between the three UN conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification. As a nation we have great opportunities in sequestering carbon in vegetation and soil as mitigation to climate change. We can restore ecosystems and biological diversity by enhancing soil formation through these efforts. And not the least we can halt desertification and the degradation of ecosystems. 

It is our obligation both to manage our land in sustainable manner so we avoid land degradation and desertification to happen, and to halt the erosion where it is depleting ecosystems and preventing ecosystems from recovering. This calls for transfer of knowledge and experience between researchers, policymakers and land users.

Dear guests,

Iceland has experienced land degradation and the loss of valuable ecosystems. As a nation we have fought these degradation processes and are interested to communicate and collaborate with others that are facing similar challenges. The establishment of the international Land Restoration Training Program in cooperation with the United Nations University is an important contribution to that. That program is an important venue for such mutual exchange has partly opened our eyes more widely to the fact that sustainable land management is not only technological exercise, but has to be based on bottom-up approach by encouraging the participation of local people.

We are interested to learn more about the work of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and your visit to Iceland, Ms Barbut, is an outstanding opportunity for that. 

I hope your stay here in Iceland will be interesting and informative for you and I thank you again for using your precious time to visit us. Thank you.