Forests once covered up to 40 percent of Iceland, but centuries of overgrazing, deforestation, and volcanic activity left the island nearly barren. 

By the early 20th century, less than 1 percent of the land was forested. The loss of tree covers exposed fragile volcanic soils to relentless winds and sandstorms, creating one of the most degraded landscapes in Europe.

In this edition of RAZOR, Gabrielle Lawrence travels across Iceland to meet the scientists and conservationists leading one of the world's most ambitious ecological restoration projects — the effort to bring forests back to the land of fire and ice.

Near the slopes of Hekla volcano in southern Iceland, Samson Harðarson and Hrefna Jensdóttir from the Icelandic Land and Forest Service demonstrate the scale of the challenge. Centuries of sheep grazing prevented birch saplings from regenerating, and repeated eruptions stripped the land of its fertile topsoil. 

Today, vast reforestation zones the size of 140,000 football pitches are being planted with a mix of native birch and carefully chosen imported species. The goal is to create resilient woodlands capable of withstanding volcanic ash, storms and climate change.

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Not far away, forest geneticist Dr. Aðalsteinn Sigurgeirsson has turned his summer cabin into a living experiment. Among barren lava fields, he cultivates Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine, and even oak and beech. 

By creating microclimates of shelter, these "pioneer species" allow more delicate trees to thrive. His work demonstrates how biodiversity can be reintroduced, and how forests provide vital habitats that attract new bird species never before seen in Iceland.

Further inland, in the lush valley of Þórsmörk, Hreinn Óskarsson showcases one of Iceland's greatest reforestation success stories. Once devastated by erosion, the valley was fenced off in 1924 to protect its remaining birch groves. 

Nearly a century later, those woodlands have expanded from 200 hectares to almost 5,000. Volunteers from around the world now join local teams each summer, planting willow cuttings and stabilizing soil against future ashfall and storms.

Restoring Iceland's forests is not just about bringing back lost landscapes, it is also about resilience. Trees act as natural defenses against volcanic ash, protect soils from erosion, and store carbon in a rapidly warming climate. 

For Samson Harðarson and his colleagues, the work is deeply personal: "It gives me joy to plant trees, even though I may never walk beneath them," he reflects. "What matters is leaving behind a forest strong enough to protect the land for future generations."