Yesterday, Wednesday, January 29, 2025, a news story appeared on ruv.is with the headline "Controversial forestry near Húsavík did not follow the law". The news was also played on the radio's evening news.
There, RÚV follows up on its and others' discussion from the fall of 2024 about the forestry project that Yggdrasill Carbon ehf. (YGG) oversees in cooperation with landowners. YGG's experience of that discussion was that the company seemed like a suitable target, because in the projects that were discussed, there was no deviation from the accepted working practices of Land and Forest and previously Forestry. However, our projects are often more noticeable, because we complete them faster than has been the norm in recent decades. In fact, YGG goes further in its projects than has generally been done in the past in considering biological diversity, protecting wetlands and collecting data on the condition of areas before construction and during the life of the projects. We had many issues with the reporting, but focused on learning from the discussion that arose. It is always possible to do better.
YGG is also the only Icelandic company that has received certification for its project from the internationally recognized body Gold Standard, but in December 2024 one of our projects received design certification after an extremely instructive and painstaking three-year process. This project has attracted considerable attention around the world and we are proud of this work.
YGG does not own any land, but relies entirely on cooperation with landowners. The focus of landowners can be diverse, but we have highlighted that by cooperating with YGG, farmers can further support their activities and livelihoods. Forestry is a long-term project, and at the end of the contract period between YGG and the landowners, the landowner takes over the forest for care and maintenance.
In our work, since 2020 we have worked closely with experts from Icelandic institutions, including Land og Skógur (formerly Skógræktin and Landgræðslan) and strive to develop solutions with start-up companies that ensure reliable data collection, careful decision-making and can contribute to more accurate and cost-effective measurements in the future.
Until now, only forestry projects have gone through a certification process with us. The reason is that the decades of research in that field enabled us to meet the requirements for projects of this type. We have high hopes that this year there will be proper movement on projects in the field of wetland restoration, and then we want to promote projects that focus on soil restoration. Iceland is a country in pain and it is in the interest of everyone who wants to enjoy it and who wants to use it to improve its condition. It has to be done well, and YGG constantly wants to do better.
Public opinion and trust are extremely important to us and the activities we belong to. We have invested a lot and made an effort to do things in the right order. We are a small private company, with offices in the East and West and build our projects in the countryside all over the country with a great positive economic impact on the local community, as we try to use local contractors as much as possible.
RÚV's news coverage does not indicate that there is a problem with the work. In the news that is the subject of this writing, it is stated in the headline that the law was not followed. However, the last sentence of the news says: A result is expected in the coming days or weeks.
Is it good journalism to make a statement in a headline that doesn't even match the story itself? Why were we not contacted and our reaction sought? What's next RÚV.
