Birch trees with Nordic blood in their veins
When Iceland’s president, Vigdis (1980-1996), was travelling around the country to meet the people of her country, she made it a tradition to plant birch trees at the places she visited; one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the unborn children. Planting trees is a global symbol of hope, looking forward, and a will to create a better future for the generations to come.
During the Barnekulturfestivalen in Reykjavik 2025, it was decided to plant trees by the Nordic House. On the 9th of April 2025, the environment-, energy-, and climate minister Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, together with the directors of the Nordic Houses in the Nordic region, planted five birch trees south of the lake by the Nordic house. These trees were not the usual Icelandic birch trees. These were a unique variety, with Nordic roots. One could say that these are birch trees with Nordic blood in their veins.
The Nordic countries are internationally recognized as leaders in plant breeding. The forest is of great importance in the Nordic countries, and trees are a source of happiness and health. The Nordic Cooperation on Forest Research (SNS) and its tree breeding have a long and successful history and are one of the many foundational pillars in the diverse cooperation in the Nordics.
But what does plant breeding mean? In short, it is the process by which the best trees from tree cultivation practices are selected for breeding tests. In this way, genetic groups develop, which we refer to as varieties. In Iceland, the plant geneticist Þorsteinn Tómasson has utilized Nordic cooperation to breed Icelandic birch varieties that thrive in the Icelandic soil and environment, namely: Embla, Kofoed, Dumba, and Hekla.
Embla
Embla was the first variation that Þorsteinn developed, with the help of Danish breeding techniques dating back over 30 years. Generally speaking, Icelandic birch is bent and crooked. But Embla, with handpicked parent trees, grows with a straight and bright stem, living up to the name “the bright tree” (birch refers to light, “björt” in Icelandic).
Kofoed
Kofoed, named after Iceland’s first director of forestry, A.F. Kofoed-Hansen, was introduced during the centennial of Icelandic forestry in 2007. It is the product of a Norwegian birch, which is not typically cultivated in Iceland, crossed with Embla.
Dumba
The successful result of Kofoed led to further experiments involving crossbreeding a Finnish, red-colored birch, which resulted in the development of the variety Dumba, a common name for red-colored cows in Iceland. The success of both Kofoed and Dumba has led to the development of a crossbreeding program with two new variations that have traditionally been difficult to cultivate in Iceland: the so-called “hanging-birch” (Betula pendula) and the “Nepal-birch” (Betula utilis jaquemonti) from Asia.
Hekla
Hekla is a rapidly growing variety characterized by its red leaves and white stem and is related to four birch varieties from three different countries. It is now being tested in more locations in Iceland and proving to be a success. Hekla grows and is sold in Finland through a process known as vegetative culture (in which all trees are of the same genotype), whereas the other variations are cultivated using seeds.
Gróðurhúsið
Gróðurhús Norræna hússins er nýtt á ýmsa skemmtilega vegu, hér má sitja og njóta kaffibolla, lesa bók eða borða hádegismat. Hér höldum við tónleika, námskeið og listasýningar.
Norræna húsið ræktar í gróðurhúsinu og garðinn sinn í samstarfi við samtökin W.O.M.E.N.„Women Of Multicultural Ethnicity Network in Iceland“ og NordGen, sem er sameiginlegur genabanki Norðurlanda og þekkingarsetur um erfðaauðlindir sem eru mikilvægar í landbúnaði og skógrækt.
Lesa meira um W.O.M.E.N. og Heimsyndisgarðinn hér.
Skálinn við Birkitrén
Norræna húsið opnar SKÁLANN; sjálfbærann og margbreytilegan skála sem getur hýst litla viðburði af öllu tagi. Skálinn hefur margskonar möguleika fyrir alls kyns útiviðburði sem tengjast fjölbreyttri dagskrá Norræna hússins.
Skálinn er sveigjanlegur vettvangur við Norræna húsið og skapar aðstöðu fyrir fjölbreytta, sjálfbæra og þverfaglega viðburði.
Styrktaraðilar
KEBONY — BYKO — AUÐLIND
Baldur Helgi Snorrason
Baldur Helgi Snorrason er fæddur í Reykjavík árið 1986. Hann hefur rekið hönnunarstofuna Bark frá því hann útskrifaðist með meistaragráðu í arkitektúr frá Konunglegu arkitektaakademíunni í Kaupmannahöfn árið 2016. Hann hefur unnið með mörk arkitektúrs, hönnunar og myndlistar á ýmsum sviðum. Fjölbreytt verkefnaflóra síðustu ára endurspeglar þverfaglega nálgun Baldurs, en meðal nýlegra verka má nefna: Einkennandi og gagnvirka speglainnsetningu sem markaði opnun Listahátíðar Reykjavíkur 2020 og Sjávarmál, hljóðskúlptúr sem vann nýlega samkeppni um nýtt útilistaverk í Reykjavík.
Smiðir:
Ragnar Már Nikulásson
Sigmar Freyr Eggertsson
Friðlandið í Vatnsmýrinni
Friðlandið í Vatnsmýrinni er einstakt. Þar getur fólk notið villtrar náttúru og fuglalífs í miðri Reykjavíkurborg.
Árið 2013 var stofnaður hópurinn “Hollvinir Tjarnarinnar” – óformlegur hópur innan Fuglaverndar en tilgangur hópsins er að virkja krafta þeirra áhugamanna sem tilbúnir eru að leggja góðu málefni lið, að hlúa að lífríki Tjarnarinnar og friðlandsins í Vatnsmýrinni.
Árlega skipuleggur hópurinn tiltekt í friðlandinu í Vatnsmýri, venjulega í apríl. Þá koma sjálfboðaliðar og tína rusl, grisja sjálfsáðan trjágróður og fleira til að gera svæðið að aðlaðandi varpsvæði fyrir endur og mófugla.
Vefsíða Hollvina Tjarnarinnar