Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.04.2014, Page 10

10The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 4 — 2014
NEWS IN BRIEF
MARCH
Continued...
Kristjánsson was diagnosed with IgA
nephropathy ten years ago and has
been on a transplant waiting list for
two years. Twenty people came for-
ward, none of who knew Kristján
directly. “They are just good Iceland-
ers who are ready to help a guy out,”
he said. I think it’s incredible that
people are prepared to do something
like this.”
It’s also been a particularly good month
for Grapevine cover star Gunnar Nel-
son, Iceland’s only MMA fighter in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Gunnar defeated Russia’s Omari
Akhmedov in the first round of their
March fight. He remains undefeated
after three UFC fights.
Kolabrautin is on
4th floor Harpa
Reservations
+354 519 9700
info@kolabrautin.is
www.kolabrautin.is
A dinner or lunch at the elevated fourth floor of Harpa concert hall is a destination
in itself. Relax and enjoy fine Italian cuisine complemented with a spectacular
panoramic view of Reykjavík and the surrounding horizon.
UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
AND A VIEW LIKE NO OTHER
In Another World
Björk, Patti Smith and Darren Aronofsky team up with
environmental organisations to safeguard Iceland’s highlands
— John Rogers
Report | Environmentalism
Iceland’s highlands make up most of the
country’s landmass—a vast expanse of
largely uninhabited, mountainous terrain
dominated by a volcanic desert and sever-
al towering glaciers. It’s the largest single
area of untouched wilderness left in Eu-
rope, and home to a range of unparalleled
natural wonders, including Lake Mývatn,
the Þjórsárver wetlands, the Sprengisan-
dur plateau, the Skaftafell National Park
and a variety of other beautiful and sig-
nificant spots that many hardy explorers
specifically travel to Iceland to seek out.
For much of the year, this sprawling
region is so inhospitable that rental cars
in Iceland attach a map to the dashboard
marked “DO NOT GO HERE.” Contrary
to the idea held by some that this renders
the land worthless, the untamed ferocity
of the nature is part of what makes the
highlands special. It’s an area that’s re-
sistant to human habitation and therefore
unspoiled, with few roads and structures.
This environment is irreplaceably
valuable in these increasingly urbanised
times, offering a rare chance to experi-
ence earthly nature in a raw and undis-
turbed state. Indeed, doing so induces a
sense of wonder, inspiration and rever-
ence in many people.
This Is An Alarm Call
At the recent, highly successful and eye-
catching conservation campaign “Let’s
Guard The Garden,” three very famous
artists stepped up to host a large-scale
benefit event for the highlands. Film
director Darren Aronofsky and music
legends Patti Smith and Björk each gave
voice to the horror that many—including
conservationists, geographers, hikers and
nature lovers from Iceland and all over the
world—feel about current government
proposals for large-scale industrial devel-
opment in the highlands.
“I came here first as a young girl aged
22 years old, way back in 1969,” Smith
recounted. “Of all the beautiful places I
visited back then, many have since been
destroyed by man. To come back to Ice-
land and still find much of the country
as I found it then is a gift. Industry has
raped Mother Nature again and again—
there has to be some place where Mother
Nature feels safe and beloved. Iceland is
one of the few places in the world where
Mother Nature can feel herself. Once
this damage is done, that can never come
back. In this matter, count me as one of
your servants.”
Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson of
The Icelandic Environment Association
(Landvernd) and Árni Finnsson of The
Iceland Nature Conservation Association
(INCA) dedicate themselves to issues
such as this. The two Icelandic conserva-
tion groups work in quite different ways,
with the former focusing more on activ-
ism and the latter more on lobbying, but
on this issue they are united.
“What spurred this campaign was the
intention of the Minister of the Environ-
ment to withdraw the Nature Conserva-
tion Act, which was supposed to take
effect on April 1 this year,” Guðmundur
says. “Furthermore, and more impor-
tantly in the short term, is the fact that the
power companies have requested that at
least 15 areas in the central highlands be
evaluated for the next round of the Master
Plan for Hydro and Geothermal Energy
Resources in Iceland.”
And what exactly would the damage
entail? “The proposed developments in-
clude more than 15 hydro and geothermal
power plants in the central highlands and
large power lines, in particular over the
Sprengisandur plateau,” Guðmundur ex-
plains.
“This and the accompanying roads
would completely change the highlands
as we know them today. Wilderness areas,
which are among the largest still remain-
ing in Europe, would be fragmented and
heavily affected, as well as glaciers! Better
roads mean better access, more speed and
more noise. This will ruin the quietness,
the remoteness and the opportunities to
experience unspoiled nature. In my view,
ensuring the protection of the central
highlands is by far the largest contempo-
rary national conservation task of the Ice-
landic people.”
Emotional Landscapes
The magic of Iceland's nature has in-
spired and informed much of Björk's
work. The video for “Jóga,” shown as she
performed at the benefit concert, features
the earth’s crust cracking open to reveal
the boiling rock beneath; the diptych of
“Frosti" and “Aurora" on her ‘Vespertine’
album express the sense of vastness and
wonder that the wilds can evoke.
So, whilst she often shies away from
using her fame as a political platform, on
this issue Björk is willing to wield her ce-
lebrity status to raise awareness. “I try to
stick to doing nature stuff,” she says. “It
seems to have a bigger impact that way.
Other than that I just like to focus on mak-
ing music. But, when I show up, people
come with cameras, so perhaps it helps in
shining a spotlight on this problem. This
is one of the few untouched lands left in
the world. It has energy and magic that
deserves our unconditional support.”
She is the first to applaud the vigilance
and dedication of Landvernd and INCA,
and stresses that every Icelander can use
their personal power for this cause. “At
the end of the day, it is up to all of us to
stop these changes,” she says. “My expe-
rience has been that the majority of Ice-
landers feel this way, and agree with us,
but they don’t have a platform to express
themselves. Celebrities sometimes simply
provide a stage.”
With 35 million ISK raised already
to fund the continued campaign, and
thousands of new members flocking to
join Landvernd and INCA, the Icelandic
public are raising their voice. When asked
to express the value of these threatened
places for those who have not seen them,
the representatives on this issue gave im-
passioned pleas for their cause. “Darren
Aronofsky gave a very apt description,”
Árni Finnsson says. “He said that frag-
menting the highlands with man-made
structures would be like splitting a dia-
mond in two parts.”
“This is one of the few
untouched lands left in
the world. It has energy
and magic that deserves
our unconditional sup-
port.” - Björk
With the highlands under threat of industrial development, pioneering artists
are campaigning to save the hidden gems of Iceland's wild heartland.
Matt Eisman
“Industry has raped Mother
Nature again and again—
there has to be some place
where Mother Nature feels
safe and beloved. Once this
damage is done, that can never
come back.” - Patti Smith
ELECTION POLL
ROUNDUP
SPECIAL
With municipal elections around the
corner, it’s high time for the Grapevine
to start its coverage. For those not in the
know, Reykjavík citizens get a chance to
pick their city council members by voting
for one of the registered parties on May 31.
The 15 council seats are split between the
parties based on the percentage of the total
vote they receive.
Prior to the election, each party pres-
ents an ordered list of their candidates,
with the person in the number one spot
being referred to as the list leader. So for
example, if a party secures three seats in
the election, the first three members of
its list become council members. Two or
three parties then form a coalition, with
the leader of the majority one becoming
mayor. But enough of that, let’s get down
to business!
Mayor Jón Gnarr has shaken up the
city’s political landscape twice—first
when his party of anarchists and artists,
known as The Best Party, won the major-
ity in the 2010 city council elections, and
again when he announced he would not
run for a second term, thereby dissolving
the party. Its members have since been
absorbed into the Bright Future Party, and
Jón Gnarr’s assistant, S. Björn Blöndal,
leads the party’s list of candidates.
Continues over
by Tómas Gabríel Benjamin