Iceland’s wetland restoration covered just 13 hectares in 2025, despite a government ambition to restore 3,000 hectares a year through 2031. No wetlands were restored in 2024, according to figures from the Environment and Energy Agency (Umhverfis- og orkustofnun) reported by Icelandic news outlet Vísir.
The figures expose a substantial gap between Iceland’s environmental ambitions and their implementation. Since 2016, only around 800 hectares have been restored, far below the objectives established in the government’s 2022 land restoration and forestry action plan.
That plan set cumulative targets of at least 5,300 hectares by 2026 and 15,600 by 2031. The ambition of 3,000 hectares annually, cited by Vísir, is a separate benchmark rather than the original plan’s formal annual timetable.
The slow progress reflects a problem that goes beyond environmental policy. Restoring wetlands may be relatively straightforward in principle, but implementing projects depends on land ownership, planning procedures, financial incentives and cooperation with local communities.
Why restoring Iceland’s wetlands is so difficult
Wetlands, particularly peatlands, store large amounts of carbon in waterlogged soils. When they are drained, usually to make land available for agriculture, the water table falls and organic material becomes exposed to oxygen, releasing greenhouse gases as it decomposes.
Restoration generally involves blocking drainage ditches to raise water levels and allow the ecosystem to recover.
The scale of Iceland’s drainage network makes this particularly important. A 2025 scientific review estimated that around 4,200 square kilometres of wetlands had been drained following decades of agricultural development, with nearly 30,000 kilometres of drainage ditches constructed.
However, reversing that process requires considerably more than filling in ditches.
Ágúst Sigurðsson, Director General of Land and Forest Iceland (Land og skógur), told Vísir that lengthy planning procedures and limited interest among landowners have been major obstacles.
Before restoration can begin, authorities must assess the condition of the land, estimate the expected environmental benefits and obtain the necessary permits. Projects may also require consultation with municipalities and neighbouring property owners.
The economic consequences matter as well. Much of Iceland’s drained land is privately owned, and restoring it can mean changing how a property is used.
Public grants have covered restoration costs, but according to Ágúst, this has not provided sufficient motivation for many landowners.
People simply need to earn an income from using their land this way.
He suggested that additional financial incentives, including payments for monitoring restored wetlands, could help encourage participation.
The government is starting with its own land
Faced with years of limited progress, the Icelandic government has decided to prioritise wetlands on state-owned properties, where it has greater control over land use.
On 2 October 2026, Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson officially launched the new restoration programme at Sogn, in southern Iceland.
Work began on closing drainage ditches at the property, where approximately 25 hectares are scheduled for restoration.
Across five state-owned properties, the government aims to restore 225 hectares during autumn 2026, closing approximately 23 kilometres of drainage ditches. The works are under way, but the announced total should not yet be treated as completed restoration.
The programme focuses initially on properties where restoration is considered relatively straightforward, particularly land that is no longer used for agriculture.
It forms part of a five-year initiative involving the environment and finance ministries, Land and Forest Iceland and the Government Property Agency.
Further projects are planned for 2027. According to Ágúst, state-owned properties contain approximately 5,600 hectares of drained land that could theoretically be considered for restoration. However, not all of it can be restored because some properties remain in agricultural use.
Even substantial progress on public land would therefore be insufficient to meet the country’s longer-term targets.
The government is also developing additional incentives for private landowners under a new regulatory framework for land restoration and forestry.
Wetland restoration is central to Iceland’s climate commitments
The stakes extend beyond habitat conservation.
According to provisional official figures released in September, Iceland’s net greenhouse gas emissions from land use amounted to approximately 6.1 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2025, with drained soils accounting for most of that total.
These figures come from national greenhouse gas inventories, which use land-use information and emission estimates rather than direct measurements at every location. Iceland has also revised its land-use emissions accounting methods, making methodological consistency important when comparing estimates over time.
Rewetting drained peatlands can reduce carbon losses, although the overall climate effect depends on local conditions and changes in different greenhouse gases.
Iceland has now established a quantified objective to reduce annual emissions from land use by 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2035, compared with 2025 levels. Wetland restoration is one of the measures intended to contribute to that goal.
The benefits are not limited to emissions. Restored wetlands can improve water regulation, support biodiversity and help recover habitats used by birds.
Yet the contrast between the original targets and the latest results illustrates the central difficulty facing Iceland’s restoration policy.
Starting work on government-owned land is a concrete departure from years of limited activity. Whether it becomes a lasting change will depend on how much land is actually restored and whether the authorities can create conditions that make restoration attractive to private owners.
Without their participation, the scale envisaged for 2031 will remain difficult to achieve.
