Projects

The massive burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil turns the earth into a greenhouse. The consequences of climate change are obvious. A second major problem in Iceland is soil erosion. When the first settlers arrived in 874 AD, the island was covered with forests from the beach to the mountains, as it is called in the old sagas. But the newcomers needed wood for heating, and the sheep they brought with them preferred to nibble off the young shoots of growing trees, thus reliably preventing reforestation. And then there also was the long winters and the regular volcanic eruptions ...
 
The Icelandic population has become aware of this fact in recent years and attempts are being made to counteract further landscape destruction and to green up eroded areas. Afforestation is the best way to do this. In addition, forests make our environment more habitable and reduce the greenhouse effect by binding carbon (CO2).

The binding and storage of CO2 to reduce the greenhouse effect (CO2 sequestration) is not only achieved through afforestation. Recent scientific studies have shown that at least as much carbon can be sequestered by restoring once drained wetlands, of which there are truly enough in Iceland. Rewetting results in the exclusion of air, which prevents the decomposition of organic matter and thus the release of CO2.

Through its forest, wetland and bird projects, ACUPARIA tries to contribute to the reduction of the greenhouse effect. For this purpose the foundaition cooperates with the following partners:

Afforestation
Skógrækt ríkisins  (http://www.skogur.is/english)
Skógrækt Reykjavíkur (http://heidmork.is/) - only in Icelandic
Fellsmörk (https://notendur.hi.is/~ers12/fellsmork/index.htm) - only in Icelandic
Skógræktarfélag Hafnarfjarðar (http://www.skoghf.is/) - only in Icelandic

Bird protection
Icelandic Society for the Protection of Birds (Fuglavernd) (http://fuglavernd.is/english/)

Wetlands
National Committee for Wetlands (Votlendisnefnd) (https://www.votlendi.is/carbon-offset) in english
Ministry of Environment and Resources (Umhverfis- og auðlindaráðuneytið) (https://eng.umhverfisraduneyti.is/)

Afforestation projects

Here the forest projects are listed in the chronological order in which they were created.

1.  Fellsmörk (1991)
2. Paradísarheimt (1993)
3. Amselwald (2013)
4. Þrastahólar (2019)

Wetland biotope and bird projects

Even though reforestation in Iceland is usually always accompanied by an increase in bird diversity, we will only report here on the birds that prefer wetlands as habitat. And by draining mainly wet meadows for haymaking, agricultural use has also contributed to a threat to certain birds in Iceland. More details can be found on these pages.