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The Faroe Islands in the NE Atlantic consist of 18 main islands having a surface area of about 1400 km2. The islands were sculpted by glaciers during the last ice age resulting in a dissected mountainous terrain. The average height of the islands is about 300 m above sea level.
The first colonizers probably arrived at this remote archipelago around A.D. 800. The landscape meeting them was dominated by shrub and grass heath as well as sparse trees. The climate was milder in the Viking and Middle Ages and the cultivation conditions were more favourable than ever since. Humans brought many new plant species to the islands but cultivation and grazing animals have uniformed the vegetation, which is now dominated by grassy heath. The human settlements may have increased levels of erosion due to the destruction of the vegetation binding the topsoil together, even though substantial erosion had also taken place prior to the settlements.
Sea level was about 1-4 m lower than it is today and flat coastal areas were ideal settlement sites because of the easy access to marine resources and farming lowlands. Heavy wave erosion on the islands since then has caused the remains of the first settlements to be washed out to sea in several places.
The study of the Faroese landscape demonstrates its vulnerability to human impact. Landscape changes are ongoing and are now monitored in order to avoid further erosion due to farming.
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