The Lake House of Úlfljótsvatn welcomed for the first time a group of nine ESC volunteers instead of five, and needless to say that the summer has been very busy! This project was, as usual, in partnership with Rannís (the national agency of the ESC in Iceland) and local organizations of selected European countries, and with the support of the European Solidarity Corps program of ERASMUS+. Thanks to the grant, their stay is entirely covered by the European Union, which promotes youth mobility and the acquisition of meaningful and useful work and social experience.
They stayed for five months, between May and September, during which they got to travel a lot, discover the Icelandic culture, and acquire a whole range of new skills and hands on knowledge on nature management and ecological restoration. The summer has been rich in adventures, activities and discoveries, and a lot was done by this fantastic team.
From top to bottom and left to right: Vincenzo (Italy), Ferran (Spain), Julien (France), Julita (Poland), Paolo (Italy), Joandra (Spain), Marc (Spain), Ilvy (Austria), Anna-Lena (Austria) and Bero (Germany).
On the main tasks of the volunteers is to travel between various locations in Iceland, to visit local forestry associations. They went this year to Patreksfjörður in the Westfjörds, Stykkishólmur, Ólafsvík and Hellissandur in the Snæfellness peninsula, and Akranes and Mosfellsbær in the South-West.
The volunteers went two times in Akranes, each time for a week, where they assisted the local forestry association with a diversity of forestry-related tasks: working in the nursery repotting plants and making poplar cuttings that will later be planted, mowing grass, planting trees, and creating new ditches to avoid stagnating water.
The volunteers were supervised by Narfi Hjartarson, manager of the volunteers, and Jens Baldursson, chairman of the Akranes forestry association.
They also went to Mosfellsbær where they worked in the Hamrahlíð forest to open a new path and improve access to the public by drawing a new trail.
Joandra, Ferran, Ilvy and Vincenzo with Einar Örn Jónsson, project manager at the IFA, and Samson Bjarnar Harðarson, board member of the Mosfellsbær forestry association.
A two weeks long trip to Ólafsvík was organized, where the volunteers pruned areas of Réttir forest, in addition to fixing paths and create stone drains to ensure continuous and long-lasting water drainage from the paths. The team has also spend some time in Hellissandur to plant new trees in Tröð and maintain its paths, and finally cut lupine around young plants so they can grow well in the summer. The team got to explore the area and discover the local faune (even Arctic foxes!), and was invited by the forestry association of Hellissandur to visit the Vatnshellir lava caves.
Joandra, Julien, Ilvy, Ferran and Vincenzo were supervised by Narfi Hjartarson and the chairmen of both associations, Vagn Ingólfsson in Ólafsvík and Lydía Rafnsdóttir in Hellissandur.
They also went for two weeks in Stykkishólmur, where the volunteers worked in the forest to make paths, prune branches and thin trees. A particularly exciting project was the creation of a "forest couch" in Grensásskógur for the outdoor lessons of elementary school using felled timber and by creating a regenerative hedge. Our volunteers got to work with a group of Icelandic youth workers, with whom they could engage with and learn more from young local people.
Through the local association, they were invited by the local sauna club to relax after work and enjoy a dip in the ocean, participated in barbecues with local Icelanders, were given freshly caught fish that they could prepare and eat, and were offered a boat expedition to discover the local fauna and culture and the famous island Hrísey.
Julita, Bero, Paolo and Anna-Lena were supervised by Gabriel Picq, founder of the volunteering project at the IFA back in 2015 who came to work with us this summer, and Björn Ásgeir Sumarliðarson, chairman of the Stykkishólmur forestry association.
The team spent a week in Patreksfjörður where the volunteers helped debranch and thin a birch forest and make a new path to Litladalur forest using wood chips made from the previously felled material. The goal was to open the forest and make it more accessible and enjoyable for the residents of the town. The association invited them to the theatre and the group got to stay in a beautiful cabin.
Another important task is to plant trees on our land surrounding the house and in other locations in South-West Iceland. All together, they planted trees of both native (birch) and foreign species (spruce, pine, alder). They also planted several thousands of Black Cottonwood poplars in an area colonized by the Alaskan lupine area. Most of the plants, provided by the Kolviður - Icelandic Carbon Fund, are destined to sequester CO2 in the future. Planting trees included replanting some areas where some trees planted the previous years had not survived the harsh Icelandic weather conditions.
With their amazing work, our group of volunteer got to be the group who managed to finish the tree planting of the total 470 ha of our land dedicated to reforestation and carbon sequestration in Úlfljótsvatn!
Care was also brought to Úlfljótsvatn itself and the surroundings of the house to beautify it and to increase its potential for growing food and storing plants. The group created a completely new potato garden (whose potatoes were later dug out in the autumn and prepared for meals). They added two shelter belts with a variety of trees and shrubs around it and next to the garden and plant storage to protect them from the wind. The trees have grown a lot throughout the summer and will soon be a real shelter against the weather! They also, among other things, relocated self-seeded Lodgepole pines to a more suitable are in the forest of Úlfljótsvatn so that they can be harvested as Christmas trees in the future. They also got to work in Brynjudalur and do some maintenance of the forest.
Last, but not least, the team worked in Vinaskógur, the Friendship forest, where they got to meet Halla Tómasdóttir, the newly elected President of the Icelandic Republic. She personally thanked them for their work and dedication to helping Iceland and its local communities managing their forests and raising awareness on the importance of environmental action.
From left to right: Cecile Willoch (Ambassador of Norway), Bero, Anna-Lena, Ilvy, Paolo, Halla Tómasdóttir (President of the Icelandic Republic), Julita, Julien and Vincenzo.
Another year full of life in Úlfljótsvatn. Our volunteers have again achieved a lot throughout those five months and everybody, the local forestry associations not the least, is very happy with their work and dynamism. Life in Úlfljótsvatn is good, and many exciting projects are waiting for the future teams!
Photo credits: Anna-Lena Aichner, Jens Baldursson, Paolo Vanoli, Narfi Hjartarson, Julien Dubos, Gabriel Picq, Elisabeth Bernard, Vagn Ingólfsson, Lydía Rafnsdóttir, Bero Vetter, Ilvy Gadner.
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