From Gullfoss we head to the highlands. The area is considered a desert. In many areas rofabörð reveal the history of the erosion since the glaciers retreated.

Researches estimate about 65% vegetation of land and 25-40% coverage of forest before the first settlement. In addition, small bushes and shrubbery were widely spread.

Trees and bushes, mostly consisting of birch and some willow scrub, created ideal conditions for a variety of high yielding crops and gave the sensitive soil the necessary protection. This vegetation had formed and evolved until settlement without intervention by humans and livestock, fully capable of surviving volcanic eruptions and the harsh weather conditions, but not yet ready for the strain of overgrazing, harvesting and chopping, which followed the inhabitancy of humans and their livestock.

Clear signs have been found in various places of our ancestors chopping down the woods for charcoals, needed to smelt iron to make tools. It wasn’t until the latter half of the 19th century when such tools were imported. Yet, wood was used for fuel for heating and cooking until around 1950.

Before we started protecting land parts from grazing, the birch had spread somewhat to the enclosed areas. The extent of the Icelandic birch woods is thought to have reached a post-glacial minimum of under 1% of total land by the mid 20th century; perhaps less. Fortunately, as I mentioned before, pioneers had also started afforestation by planting about the same time.