Preserving the natural environment and historic heritage in the old herring village Djupavik

Volunteers will be working on various projects in and around Djúpavík, which is a tiny little village in the Icelandic Western fjords.

Among the main tasks will be to build and maintain hiking trails and walking paths in the area, as well as putting up sticks and signs alongside the paths. Other tasks will include cleaning the coastline between Djúpavíkurkleif and Stekkjarnes, collecting driftwood and general gardening work.

In Djúpavík there is an old abandoned herring factory and we will be assisting in some maintenance and renovation works inside it. The building is now used by artists and cultural events are hosted there.

Project dates: May 18 - June 1, 2013

Djúpavík is located at the head of Reykjarfjörður on the Strandir coast in the Westfjords region (Vestfirðir), in the municipality of Árneshreppur. Perhaps one of Iceland's most remote areas, it is a sheltered bay, largely untouched by modern developments where silence reigns and nature continues to shape a rugged, mountainous landscape. The distance from the capital is around 360 km.

There have been small farming communities in the district for hundreds of years, but the story of Djúpavík really began in 1915, when Elías Stefánsson started a herring salting station. Unfortunately he went bankrupt in 1919, but in 1934 entrepreneurs of Djúpavík started building a huge herring factory that ran for two decades. It changed the lives of the people in the region, giving them a chance to earn a living. In 1954 the "herring adventure" (as Icelanders call it) in this part of Iceland was over and the factory went bankrupt.

More information and enrolment: www.cadip.org/volunteer-in-iceland.htm

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