Organised forestry in Iceland started as Danish development assistance. A Danish merchant marine captain, Carl H. Ryder, saw that many dificulties associated with the general poverty in Iceland at the time were due to the lack of forests.

He recruited forestry professor Carl V. Prytz and the forester Christian E. Flensborg to initiate forestry experiments in Iceland from 1899 to 1906.

Beginning in 1905, they lobbied the new Home Government to take forestry matters into their own hands and gained the support of Minister for Iceland, Hannes Hafstein.

Ryder and Prytz authored the bill that finally became the Forestry and Soil Conservation Act of November 22nd, 1907, resulting in establishment of the Iceland Forest Service on March 1st, 1908.

A “sand reclamation man” was employed by the Forest Service from the outset, but the paths diverged in 1914 and since then the Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service have developed as separate sisteragencies.

 The main goals of the Forest Service are protection of forests and forest remnants, afforestation and to inform on forests and forestry.

Year: 2007.