THE EXPERIMENTAL FOREST LABORATORIES OF SKAFTAFELL

Existing water networks

Existing contours

Existing transport networks

Existing conditions of the Skaftafell hillside

Skaftafell, and the surrounding Skeiðarársandur outwash plain, is a unique and wildly dynamic landscape in the south east of Iceland. Although it is home to one of the largest areas of birchwood in Iceland, due to the instability of the landscape, a history of prolific glacial surges, overgrazing, and generally harsh climatic conditions, these Betula nana rarely grow more than 2m tall.. With the frequency and intensity of jökaulhaups predicted to increase as the glacier melts, the landscape will grow more unstable than ever, creating ever harsher conditions for possible regeneration or maturation of the forest.

Proposal for the Experimental Forest Laboratories, and Future Ancient Woodlands of Skaftafell

The experimental forest laboratories the project proposes for the site at Skaftafell represent efforts to establish ecological resilience in times of deeply uncertain climatic futures, and stability in an everunstable landscape. Drawing inspiration from Alnrp’s ‘Landscape Laboratory’, which placed emphasis on research and experimentation within the field of urban woodland design and implementation, the experimental forests are an attempt to demonstrate what is possible in efforts of reforestation and conservation. Oftentimes, the ecological narrative can be dominated by ‘minimal intervention’ or the reintroduction of native species. The project, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, dares to invert this ethos, proposing radical intervention, heavy maintenance, and the introduction of global species to an otherwise-sparse ecosystem.

The forest networks will be interconnected by walkways to allow visitors to move between sites of distinct atmospheres and ecologies. Whilst each laboratory will be highly individual in its methods of design, maintenance regime, and stewardship; they are unified conceptually by the common narratives of landscape archives, ecological resilience, and the creation of [future] ancient woodlands.

Landscape Archive / Proposal for a [Future] Ancient

Boreal Icelandic Birchwood

The preservation of the existing birch forest upon the plains of the Skeiðarársandur, and hillsides of Skaftafell, is integral to the reforestation movement in contemporary Iceland, with the potential to develop into Iceland’s biggest mature birch forest in the absence of catastrophic climate events. Whilst the afforestation movement in the 20th century largely focused on enclosing areas of birch woodland to protect from overgrazing during the summer months10; my proposal, by contrast, seeks to extend these efforts through time and space, through the elevation of the existing forest to develop into Iceland’s first Ancient Birchwood. The laboratory itself will be built up into an island of sorts, in constructed soils utilising displaced materials from the first site at Sauðárdalur. The form of the laboratory is particularly unique, its design derived from the shapes of existing dwarf birch forests of the Skeiðarársandur. This is not only a reference to the origins of the forest in future history, but another facet to the archive narrative, as a preservation of past landscape forms. It is the ambition that, through the physical elevation of the trees, as well as rigorous human management, the emergent woodland will be afforded protection from the elements and animals alike. This provides valuable security, space, and time to develop into an Ancient forest for the future, bringing with it ecological stability and resilience. 10

For the complete Icelandic Birchwood Inventory , see Appendix, 36.

PHASE ONE / CONSTRUCTION

Soils and Structures. Each unique forest laboratory ‘island’ is built up to 5m above the existing ground level, with an even-level surface on the top, using a combination of local materials including those reclaimed from the deconstruction of the Sauðárdalsstífla dam. The idea being that each site within the archive, whilst dramatically different from one another, may be united by a sense of shared materiality.

Concrete, basalt and sediment from the Sauðárdalur Valley site will be used in the construction of soils for the forest laboratories. In line with the idea of designs of distrubance, and recognition that it may be through such disruption (e.g. of soils and structures) that new life is stimulated. The novel substrates constructed will encourage new forms of growth, colonisation and succession, while the height of the structures afford a sense of stablity to an otherwise highly unstable and unpredictable landscape - permitting each forest to grow, mature, and grow old in the safety of the landscape laboratory.

PHASE ONE / CONSTRUCTION

The surrounding structure of each laboratory takes its form from an histroical forest, as a form of replication of landscapes lost. Concrete from the deconstruction of the Sauðárdalsstífla dam will be used to encase the constructed soils. In some cases these pieces will be arranged regularly, in strong straight lines and monumental panels. In others, they will be piled upon one another, leaning, slanted and cracked, in dialogue with the narrative of ruination running through the design interventions at the Sauðárdalur.

PHASE TWO / IMPLEMENTATION, SUCCESSION

Betula pubescens and Betula nana, which currently colonise the hillside at Skaftafell, have a tendency to ‘sprint’ uphill, followed by their companion species to suceed in their wake. For this reason, the design of the Icelandic Birchwood laboratory includes a gradianted slope the opens out from the laboratory back into the hillside. This encourages the surrounding Birch to follow their natural patterns of succession, as well as providing them with valuable higher ground in which to seek refuge from the prolific jökaulhaups which have plagued the nearby Skeiðarársandur over the last century, and which are expected to become more frequent and unpredictable as the climate continues to destabilise. At this stage, any birch trees that were displaced during the construction process can be re-planted, accelerating the intial stages of ecological succession.

Following on from the construction of the site, transplantation, and the initial succession of local birch, we might expect to see more species begin to colonise as the site settles and stabilises. Valerian, stone brambles, nootka lupines might emerge, as well as the highly unusual black elfin saddle fungi that thrives in Birchwoods. Birds such as the Icelandic wren, redpoll, and snipe may begin to migrate, all contributing to an emergent, thriving ecosystem.

PHASE THREE / MATURITY, STEWARDSHIP, EXPERIENCE

As the years pass, and the Birchwood begins to establish and mature, it will be the task of the foresters overseeing the project to remove any unwanted scrub or shoots that may opoortunistically colonise the ground. The purpose of this is an exercise in maintaining the woodland as aunique Birchwood-oriented ecosystem that will develop to ancient age. Any species that might threaten to invade, outcompete, succeed, or otherwise disrupt the balance of this ecosystem will be relocated to the a separate laboratory - the Arboretumwhere natural processes of succession will be allowed to unfold in a more wild way.

As the Birchwood develops, regenerates, and matures in the coming decades and centuries, it will offer visitors the richly unique experience of walking through Iceland’s first Ancient Birch Forest. It might speak to some through evocations of cultural memory, and of the denselyforested land that Iceland once was, long ago. To others, it might demonstrate hope for the future possibilities of re-forestation as the landscape undergoes immeasurable change. In the wake of glacial melt, the transition and memory of the landscape can be measured instead in the rings of the trees, seen in the rough edges of the bark, heard through the birdsong that dances between the leaves. It is a landscape of both the past and the future of Iceland.

Landscape Archive / Proposal for a [Future] Ancient

Boreal Caledonian Pinewood

Since the very beginnings of my design explorations in the realm of the Vatnajökull, I had positioned the postglacial landscapes of Scotland - such as the Pentland Hills and the Cairngorms - in dialogue with Iceland. As a way of relating to this new and faraway place, but also as a study of how Iceland’s speculative postglacial futures might unfold. How might the landscape take shape? Which ecologies might emerge? It later transpired, during the process of scoring the landscape’s projected atmopsheric change, that I began to realise just how fitting such a comparison might be. With a forecasted increase of 8’C over the next two hundred years, the future climate of the Vatnajökull is forecasted to fall almost perfectly in line with that of the contemporary Scottish Highlands. Furthermore, in a troubling parallel, where a mere 1% of trees remain of a historically forsted Iceland11, it is equally just 1% of the ancient Caledonian Pinewood that once blanketed Scotland endures today.12

Whilst, certainly, there are valuable landscapes and atmopsheres being lost to the world as the glacier recedes, there are equally conditions emerging that may find themselves threatened elsewhere in the world. How might we shift the narrative, from one of loss, to one of hope? As the ancient Caledonian Pinewoods of Scotland become fewer and further between, under increasing threat from global warming and human action, the emergent postglacial landscape of Iceland might offer conditions in which they have space to thrive.

The [Future] Ancient Caledonian Pinewood of my proposal follows this line of reasoning. It is an experiment in establishing global ecological resilience in times of increasingly uncertain futures. It acts as an archive of atmospheres and landscapes lost to our actions, and in-actions. It is my belief that by integrating unlikely companions, such Icelandic Birchwood and Caledonian Pinewood, more-than-human species will engage in an act of active collaboration to strengthen both the resilience of Iceland’s fragile ecosystem, and our planet as a whole. This experimental proposition for the future of forestry and reforestation takes in the global view, taking unprecedented change as an opportunity for preservation, remediation, and resilience.

11“History of Forests in Iceland,” Icelandic Forest Service, accessed February 18, 2023, https://www.skogur.is/en/forestry/forestryin-a-treeless-land/history-of-forests-in-iceland.

12“Caledonian Pinewood Recovery,” Trees for Life, accessed March 1 2023, https://treesforlife.org.uk/about-us/caledonianpinewood-recovery.

PHASE ONE / CONSTRUCTION

In addition to the construction of soils, and the surrounding post-industrial structure, the Caledonian Pinewood laboratory proposes another re-use of the concrete materials: a set of wide, winding steps leading through a valley of birch trees, edging along the towering external walls of the laboratory and leading into the forest itself. Whilst the majority of paths are constructed to be either flat or gently sloped to allow universal access to the forests, the implentation of these steps provide a more challenging ascent for any hillwalkers exploring the slopes. More than this, it offers the unique atmospheric experience of transitioning between native birch hillside, through an imposing valley, into a foreign world itself: Ancient Caledonian Pinewood.

PHASE TWO / TRANSPLANTATION

Upon completion of the construction stage for the laboratory, bareroot Scots Pine trees will be transplanted in the following spring once they reach a height of 80cm. By this stage in their development, they should be hardy enough to withstand the colder Icelandic winters, but it will be at the discretion of the foresters caring for the forest if they should be protected with a layer of mulch in the intial years. During this time, they will grow quickly, soon coming to establish strong root systems that, in time, will entwine to form the comlpex and intricate network that supports the life of all the forest.

PHASE THREE / ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION AND ESTABLISHMENT

In the intial stages of succession within the Pinewood, we might hope to see the emergence of characteristic species that occur nowhere else. Blaeberry and bell heather, twinflower and creeping lady’s tresses. Potentially the emergence of rare species of tooth fungi such as the blue tooth, or networks of wood hedgehog fungi that grow in symbiosis with the trees.

Whilst in colder, drier climates, such as the east coast of Scotland, Scot’s Pine dominates the tree canopy; milder or more humid environments can result in a more diverse collection of species.13 As the climate crisis intensifies, we might anticipate the colonisation of tree species including rowan, alder, juniper, birch, holly, and hazel. In efforts to preserve this landscape as close to a native Caledonian Pinewood as possible, the project proposes to have any emergent saplings relocated through transplantation into the Arboretum.

PHASE FOUR / COLONISATION AND MIGRATION

The unique habitat of the Caledonian Pinewoods provide refuge for an abundance of rare and specialised species. As the forest matures, and the climate shifts, we might hope to see the migration of certain species of bird, invertebrates, and insects alongside the increasing ecological resilience of the forest. Black grouse, red squirrels and pine martens might find a home here, as well as endangered pine hoverfly species that feed on old or deadwood.

PHASE FIVE / FOREST MATURITY, EXPERIENTIAL DIMENSION

Almost two hundred years on from the initial transplantation phase, the unique experience of the Ancient Caledionian Pinewood, so far removed from its native homeland, is recreated in an island of concrete, jutting out bizarrely from the hillside of Skaftafell. Below, an increasingly dense thicket of dwarf birchwood creeps up the mountain, and once-raging waterfalls are reduced to the trickle of streams. On almost all sides, the view of dozens of forest islands, connected by a network of raised walkways, each united through a common tale, yet an entirely unique experience, ecosystem, and atmosphere unto their own. The walk through the forests of Skaftafell could take days, but it would be possible to spend years learning their stories, with every threshold offering the possibility of entering a new world entirely. To the north, in the watery remains of the Vatnajökull, new lagoons and a hundred rivers braid their way between the hills. To the south, the endless blue of the delta merging with the horizon of the sea. Birdsong, then, a cloudless sky.

Landscape Archive / Proposal for a [Future] Ancient

Global

ARCHIVAL ARBORETUM

The proposal for a Global Archival Arboretum as part of the wider network of experimental forest laboratories at Skaftafell is a further investigation into the possibilities of establishing ecological resilience for the forested landscapes of Iceland, and the world at large.

The design for the form of the laboratory is derviced from the existing Hallormsstaður National Forest on the east coast of Iceland., and speaks once again to landscapes of the past, from the perspective of the future. The laboratory also takes inspiration from Hallormsstaður - as one of the country’s largest and most diverse forests - and seeks to continue and go beyond what the woodland has already achieved for the biodiversity of Iceland.

Unlike the previous two laboratory proposals, the Archival Arboretum will be allowed to develop in a far wilder way, the only human intervention to be the transplantation of otherwise displaced trees. Whilst this encourages the natural processes of ecological succession and colonisation to proceed relatively uninhibited, the introduction of nonnative species, for instance from the Caledionian Pinewood laboratory, will generate an entirely novel ecosystem in itself, potentially the first of its kind in Iceland. Within what is currently an ecologically poor landscape, the new relationships forged between unlikely companion species might prove to strengthen both the ecological biodiversity and resilience of the site.

CASE STUDY / Hallormsstaður National Forest

Considered to be contemporary Iceland’s largest forest, the Hallormsstaður spans an area of over 740 hecatres. Whilst the majority of the canopy is comprised of native birch, the forest has been the site of large scale trials of exotic species, and is home to the Hallormsstaður Arboretum: a tree collection of over 80 species from accross the world.14

14 “Hallormsstaður National Forest,” Visit Egilsstadir, accessed March 14 2023, https://visitegilsstadir.is/en/things-to-see/hallormsstadur-national-forest/

CASE STUDY / Öskjuhlíð, Reykjavík

Öskjuhlíð, albeit small, is considered to be an example of one of Iceland’s best woodlands. Home to nearly 200,000 trees of species including native birches, spruces, conifers and pines. The sheltered conditions of the hill, in the centre of Reykjavik, has allowed some of the oldest trees to reach heights of over 15 metres15, in stark contrast to the dwarf birch woodlands currently surviving on the plains of the Skeiðarársandur - demonstrating that, given correct and stable conditions, forests may yet thrive in the tree-less land of the Vatnajökull.

PHASE ONE / CONSTRUCTION

- The onstruction of the soils and structures -

PHASE TWO / TRANSPLANTATION

Following completion of the construction stage accross the forest sites, preliminary transplantations can begin to take place. To begin with, tree species and saplings that were displaced during phase one - whether due to topographical alterations or the need to clear access for machinery and vehicles - will be transplanted into the novel soil. These species may include dwarf birch, holly, or alder; and represent the initial foundations upon which ecological succession will unfold in the future, determining not only which species of plants, insects and animals may come to colonise the forest, but what kind of experiential qualities the place may earn in time.

PHASE THREE / ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION AND ESTABLISHMENT

Following the comlpetion of the initial transplatation phase of the project, subsequent ecological succession may begin to unfold. In the coming decades, we might begin to see the migration and colonisation of native species local to the likes of the Hallormsstaður or Öskjuhlíð forests, such as sitka spruce, black cottonwood or siberian larch. Seed dispersal through wind or via birds might encourage these seeds to take root, supported by the novel conditions of the soil. At the same time, we may see the further establishment of transplanted species such as birch, alder, or hazel.

PHASE FOUR / FOREST MATURITY

A forest for the future, and for ecological resilience, the experimental nature of the Archival Arboretum is difficult to predict or pin down. We might see hardier, native species such as the lodgepole pine dominate the canopy, with transplanted species such as juniper or rowan struggling to compete. Owing to increasingly milder climates, we might see the invasion of wholly unprecedented foreign species from overseas or the experimental implementation of exotic trees at Hallormsstaður. What is certain to be seen, with each new metre of growth, layer of bark, with each new mushroom or catepillar, the history of the landscape reveal itself to us - through all its struggle, transition, and successas a living archive of this transformative period in the history of the Vatnajökull. More than the past, what will it suggest for our future? And what will we learn about the possibilities afforded by experimental forestry. What is possible?

For the legend / complete archival collection of Future Tree Species, see Appendix, 12.