Þjórsá is a powerful river situated in a fertile and beautiful valley near Selfoss in Southwest Iceland. Here farmers and local residents have been resisting the damming of the waterfall Urriðafoss and the flooding of their land for dams intended to power the expansion of RioTinto-Alcan’s Straumsvík smelter and most probably also the Helguvík Century Aluminum plant currently under illegal construction.
The walk will tour stunning areas threatened by the upcoming dams, while members of Sól á Suðurlandi will give descriptions of the struggle for their beloved river so far and provide local knowledge on various sites of interest. The Icelandic mountain guides will lead the tour and provide information on plants and the landscape. We welcome anyone interested in enjoying a walk in the Þjórsá valley to meet us at the coach stop at the bottom of Árnaholl (at corner of Hverfisgata and Lækjargata) at 12 noon. It would be great if you could email us beforehand but you will not be turned away if you just turn up.
Time and time again the Icelandic government and the energy companies have carried out terrible environmental destruction for dubious multinational corporations out of the public eye, often due to the remote nature of the wild sites they are developing. We must not allow this behaviour to go on behind closed doors. Please join us and see for yourself the effects of planned projects and the beauty and value of the nature they will destroy.
email savingiceland@riseup.net for more details or to book a place.
I really love this idea…and that speech at academy. Wish you lot of energy – really pure and positive one 8O))