According to a report from Fréttablaðið this morning, 33 hectares of wetland have been reclaimed at Gottorp by Hópið, but 660 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions will be saved by the project. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that, on average, one hectare of drained land emits 19.5 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.
The Wetlands Fund was established in 2018 as a community project that raises funds for the restoration of damaged wetlands in Iceland. Einar Bárðarson, managing director of the wetland fund, says that the best times to restore wetlands are spring and autumn.
“We wanted to start rebuilding in the spring, but it was snowing in the area until the breeding season, so we could not start the project,” he told reporters. “Now we are trying to speed things up before it snows again in the Westfjords.”
According to Fréttablaðið, the Wetlands Fund restored 72 hectares last year and stopped the emission of 1,440 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Einar emphasizes that the prevention of greenhouse gases by wetland restoration is not simply carbon offsets, but a direct halt, which means that an additional 1,440 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions will be saved by this restoration every year from now on. This means that “the sooner these actions are taken, the better.”
Einar emphasized the need for companies, institutions and individuals to take responsibility for their carbon footprint.