The wind was gently but consequently encircling the tent. Yet, a firm plastic tent cover and a robust material of the rest of the interior did not give in. The sun was setting. Its rays were to continue delivering a pleasant, dimmed-like experience till early morning. These so-called, white nights are a good match for explorers hungry for more and in the never-ending thrust towards the unknown. Especially - the interior. The inner part of the island where there are only gravel roads and that's if you're lucky. It is like a mecca for nature lovers who don't cut corners with only seeing the most popular and accessible views.
Vik, a small city en route to the East of Iceland was accommodating us well this evening which could not be said about the upcoming days. Although June was one of the warmer months the temperature would drop to 8 C during the day and close to zero in the night time. Europe was experiencing a heatwave at the time where this island was still in cold-mode. That being said, fifteen is likely the most you will get here often-with an additional sprinkle of high winds that do not compromise on their ability to throw a truck off the road. The highest temperature ever recorded here was 30.5 °C in the Eastern fjords which was back in 1939. I'd reckon that nowadays it's well forgotten.
I'm thinking of a non-cliché way to describe Iceland. It seems like everything was already said, discussed or photographed. That was up until a book "Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation" caught my eye in one of the bookshops in a small fishing city of Akureyri. With a recommendation on the book cover from Icelandic export artist Björk, is also a political and environmental activist, I dug inside. I already saw large parts of the country and the serenity of the experience has made me perplexed when juxtaposed with the troubling contents of the book.
Before I dwell deeper into the subject I want to share a short story with you. It's about a profession which I was exploring whilst in the country. The islander lifestyle has always caught my attention. Beginning in Europe and throughout isles and islets of Asia and ending with Iceland. They represented (and this might be my imagination playing) a space of solitude, laid-back lifestyle and extensive doses of stillness. One profession was always part of the picture - fisherman. I knew that the serenity would quite differ on an island so far up north when compared to the picturesque beaches of Indonesia or North Vietnam.
It then recalled my fond memories from living on the Baltic coast for most of my life. Although the climate was much less rough the sea often showed its potential. It could get windy and frigid cold. I was fascinated by the living conditions for the locals when I've heard about Iceland. I then decided to act on it and meet the people working at the see in person. My interest did not come from just from a thought experiment.
During my summer holidays, when I still was studying, I was also working as a clark in a ship supplying company. Throughout vacation days I was delivering various kinds of goods (food supplies, technical equipment, alcohol and tobacco) to ships all sizes and types. From fully-rigged sailing ships through, containers, tugboats, fishing boats as well as military submarines and petroleum vessels. I've made those deliveries onshore and the roadstead both on calm and restless waters.It then recalled my fond memories from living on the Baltic coast for most of my life. Although the climate was much less rough the sea often showed its potential. It could get windy and frigid cold. I was fascinated by the living conditions for the locals when I've heard about Iceland. I then decided to act on it and meet the people working at the see in person. My interest did not come from just from a thought experiment.
Thanks to this time I got to talk to sailors, captains, cooks and engineering officers. Having had few sailors in my family as well I heard numerous stories of voyages long and short on the waters surrounding the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Arctic. As for the latter I was even invited for crab catching on the Barents Sea in the warmer months of the year (read more in a story about exploring the Arctic Circle in Russia during polar nights). The stories I've heard kept on living in my head and building respect for the people of the sea. I wanted to revisit them, at least briefly, in Iceland.
I managed to do that in the above mentioned Akureyri with 18 000 inhabitants, strong fishing legacy and an airport surrounded by mountains. It's located in the north of the island tucked in a narrow bay. Thus enabling small planes to land even in adverse weather conditions. I went from one local port to the other searching for fisherman still operating to date on their small vessels. Unfortunately, yet anticipated, my interviewees did not speak much English (apart from one).
I met them at one port far away from the city centre. One by one they were coming back from early morning fishing. I invited one of them, Frederick, seventy years old, for a short talk. We sat down on two bitts and started a conversation.
I got to know that he was taught how to fish by his father and grandfather who knew the craft from family members further down the line. From around six years his job, apart from fishing from time to time, is repairing other boats thus having two jobs. He is quite proud of the white top he made himself for the boat. When I was standing next to it it seemed as a high-quality craftsmanship work.
Nowadays, he goes to the sea on regular basis which does not translate to 'everyday'. Some days are better than the others though. The day we met, Frederick has managed to come back with around 4 kilograms of fresh fish which, as he mentioned, was a rather poor day. On the good ones, it can be as high as 300 kilos or so. Quite impressive.
Another gentelman I met at the port, Viktor, was fishing mainly for himself. Usually, he comes back with around 200 kilograms of catch for himself and his family. If there is any surplus left he gives it away for free to neighbours and friends. His boat is named Blidfari and is sixty years old yet looks like new. The top booth next to which he is sitting was made by his hand in a workshop. There were some other improvements as well that happened throughout the years of service. One of them was a designated place for cleaning fish which Viktor was quite proud of.
Iceland has relied largely on fishing until the 20th century. Later on the economy has changed but still, it presents itself as the single most important part with around 27% of the GDP (as of 2011). The small fishing villages tucked in the mountains or coves add additional beauty to the, already astounding, surroundings. It's a cliche to state that Iceland's landscape is awe-inspiring. This can be especially visible on the south of the country where the sights can change every few dozen kilometres from the green hills to lava and moss-covered tracts of land and glacier-covered mountains.
A dreamland that took a, perhaps landscape changing, turn before 2006 when a decision has been made to use the natural power hidden in rivers and geothermal energy which, both, come in abundance. These were to be used for aluminium smelters. This would change how the rivers flow, waterfalls exist and, in general, nature is functioning in some of the regions of the country. One can also imagine that the industrial aluminium smelting business for which one huge factory (out of four planned) was already built on the outskirts of Reykyavik is not neutral to the environment as well.
Before that Iceland seemed to me as one of the last bastions of remarkable contact that a human can have with nature. Starting from the remote villages, lonely churches under the hills or far-away farms through ubiquitous sheep herding, volcanic paisage and finishing with icebergs crashing on black beaches. There does not seem to be much impact of human - not in European terms.
Yet, the government has decided to build a set of damns a decade ago that would support the factory in necessary energy. As Wikipedia mentions:
"The dams have been the frequent subject of protests by environmentalists for many reasons. The area is within the second largest (formerly) unspoiled wilderness in Europe and covers about 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) in total and the rivers that supply water to the project are part of Europe's largest glacier, Vatnajökull. The project as a whole has also been criticised heavily in the book Draumalandið and subsequent 2009 documentary Dreamland. About 70% of the workforce was composed of foreign workers."
The above was not the only case of using the natural resources of the island for business advantage. Bloomberg reported that:
"A little over a century ago, a young woman named Sigridur Tomasdottir threatened to throw herself into the icy gorge of Iceland’s iconic Gullfoss waterfall in a bid to stop English businessmen from turning it into a hydroelectric dam. In the end, the proto eco-warrior was able to hold on to her life -- the leasing contract was canceled, allegedly because the money failed to turn up on time -- and the Golden Falls are today one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions."
I did not see any adverse effects of the mentioned actions and the landscape I saw (apart from the factory) was in a perfect state and well taken care of. That being said, it would be naïve of me to judge the book solely by its cover. The impact on the environment happens usually over time and, often, might be irreversible in its magnitude.
Earth provides for man's need, not for man's greed. - Gandhi
It's easy to put quotes from popular thinkers. Without a context, they become yet another cliché. In Europe, we have long stopped producing for ourselves but started thinking strategically. The easy flow of goods has assisted some countries, without the possibility to deliver all the goods to local markets, to provide for their people in exchange for other goods that were available in abundance. There is a thin line and a vague one to that which, when crossed, stops emphasizing the local in favour of the global.
There is also another side of the coin. Jim Ratcliffe, a British businessman, is the biggest landowner in Iceland. He is also the owner, or part-owner, of 12 farms. He does not seem to be exploiting nature in any way. Quite the contrary. In an interview he mentions:
"The concept there is that if we have a presence by owning some of the farms through Strengir we have a voice with the river associations. The idea is we do all we can to conserve the future of the salmon by managing the rivers well. With a voice at the river association we have the ability to influence how the rivers are managed."
This is quite compelling taking into consideration that salmon, once part of European rivers, has become endangered and vanished from most of them. Iceland being part of the European Economic Area (EEA) enables citizens of countries that are also part of the EEA to acquire property rights in Iceland without the permission of the Minister of Justice. As we live in a global economy the person or group of people with the thickest wallets may take (and often take) advantage of the situation. When combined with a rather easy flow of goods it can create a snowball effect.
This happened to Iceland in terms of disputed smelting. As of 2017, Iceland's economy relies much on two factors: aluminium (accounting for 39% of exports) and seafood products (35% in total of exported goods). Fishing industry contributes significantly to GDP yet the aluminium industry makes most of the revenue from exporting goods.
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)