Sustainable Tourism
We provide wonderful opportunities to visit, explore and discover some of the most striking landscapes in the Nordic Arctic. Many of these places are true wilderness – fragile arctic environments unspoilt by human activity, providing habitats for an array of wildlife and home to indigenous human communities. Our aim is to provide expeditions for our clients where we can share our passion for these spectacular and fragile environments. We deeply value the opportunity to share with our clients our concern for the conservation of these extraordinary places.
“We recognise that the great beauty and significance of the arctic wilderness is easily impacted by human activities. We are committed to the provision of opportunities to visit these spectacular places but to avoid the risk of causing harm to the Nordic Arctic environment, its wildlife and indigenous communities.”
David Broom, Mountain Instructor & Ecologist
Many of our expedition routes pass through areas designated as National Parks, and the wildlife species we see are typically of international nature conservation importance. These are also landscapes of great ancestral importance to indigenous arctic human communities. Through long experience of working and enjoying arctic landscapes, our guides have a sound understanding of the intrinsic qualities and fragility of these places. This knowledge and passion for these special environments is used to plan expedition routes and itineraries that explore the forests, mountains and remote parts of these arctic wilderness landscapes but avoid harmful impacts.
Our approach to planning and delivery of arctic expeditions is grounded on principles of sustainable tourism in fragile environments. In particular, we aim to provide expeditions that:
Leave the places we visit in the same condition as we found them;
Generate local income wherever possible;
Understand the natural and social capacity of the places we visit to accommodate our expeditions;
Provide rich, authentic and inspirational experiences for our clients;
Enhance our clients’ appreciation of the qualities and vulnerabilities of the arctic environments we visit;
Utilise goods and services with the highest sustainability performance.
Our expeditions hope to support academic research into the arctic environment through data collection and information gathering in remote and often challenging environments. David’s academic associations ensure that our expedition planning benefits from up to date information on sustainable tourism within the Nordic Arctic and wider industry.
Locations
The European arctic is a place of long, dark, icy winters, and includes some of the most extensive wilderness areas on the continent. These include the high arctic tundra, glaciated arctic mountains and vast areas of boreal forest. Our activities take place within some of the most outstanding areas of the Scandinavian arctic environment. Our itineraries explore the wide expanse of the high arctic tundra landscapes of Norway’s Finnmarksvidda region, the arctic mountain landscapes of Norway’s Nordland and Sweden’s Norrbotten and Västerbotten regions.
The arctic in winter can appear to be a harsh and unforgiving environment. However, even in the winter a surprising number of plant and animal species can be seen within arctic wildlife habitats. It is quite magical to observe species adapted for survival during the arctic winter.
Finnmarksvidda
The Finnmark region of northern Norway is one of Europe’s classic areas of undulating Nordic terrain high above the arctic circle. The expeditions and training course itineraries within this region focus on the traditional route over the Finnmarksvidda to Karasjok, widely regarded as one of Norway’s most iconic expeditions. This crosses the immense Finnmarksvidda, a high plateau that is sparsely populated and has a character as wild as the weather.
The area is known for the coldest winter temperatures in Norway. Survival by wild plants and animals within the harsh arctic climate of the Finnmarksvidda region is possible only by the hardiest and best adapted species. This creates a largely treeless landscape of arctic tundra with scattered areas of stunted pine trees, birch and willow scrub and glacially formed lakes. Boreal forest is typically restricted to more sheltered conditions at lower levels around the perimeter of the Finnmarksvidda. Boreal forest is also characteristic of steep sided gorges that dissect the fringes of the Finnmarksvidda.
Finnmark is home to the once nomadic Sami culture who are the indigenous people of the northern Nordic lands, including the Kola Peninsula in Russia. The Sami people are traditionally linked to the migration of reindeer during their seasonal treks between the arctic tundra and the coast. It is typical for expeditions across the Finnmarksvidda to encounter herds of Reindeer clearing patches of snow to feed on mosses and lichens within the buried tundra vegetation.
Norrbotten
Norrbotten province straddles the arctic circle, forming part of Swedish Lapland. This area includes some of the most breathtaking arctic and sub-arctic landscapes in all of Scandinavia. Our 2025 Kungsleden expedition explores the northern arctic winter landscapes of this area, passing through scenic mountains valleys and appreciating the beauty of the national parks that form part of the Laponia World Heritage Site, the largest protected natural area in Europe.
The northern province of Norrbotten is a mountainous landscape of narrow, sharp-crested mountain ridges and peaks. The arctic latitude of the area has created a landscape of spectacular glaciated mountain scenery, including Kebnekaise: the tallest mountain in Sweden.
The trek starts in the Abisko National Park in the heart of Lapland’s alpine world where majestic mountains frame the beautiful Abiskodalen valley with Scandinavia’s largest alpine lake. The area is rich in winter wildlife, and we are likely to see evidence of elk, reindeer and potentially wolverine.
Continuing south, our Kungsleden expedition passes through the Stora Sjöfallet/Stuor Muorkke National Park, an area celebrated for its alpine nature in the high Nordic region. This is a landscape of imposing mountain ridges, deep sculpted valleys, high boulder fields and beautiful primeval pine forests. The mountain landscape of this area includes the Akka massif, known as “the Queen of Lapland”. This is another part of our expedition where we hope to see reindeer, as there exist good feeding grounds in the area.
Towards the southern end of the Norrbotten section of our Kungsleden expedition we pass through the Sarek National Park, one of the most dramatic and grandiose of all northern Sweden’s national parks. This area includes mountains that reach altitudes of over 2,000 metres and has almost 100 glaciers. This is an area traversed by long, deep glaciated valleys, and is a high alpine region where the Sami people have lived for many centuries.
Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park
Norway’s Nordland region straddles the Arctic circle, and contains some of the country’s most outstanding arctic mountain landscapes. At the core of this area is the magnificent Saltfjellet - Svartisen National Park. This is Norway’s largest National Park that has been designated to protect an extensive area of rugged mountainous landscape that contains alpine peaks with glaciated valleys, mountain passes and remote glaciated lakes. To the west, the National Park contains the Svartisen ice cap, the largest glacial expanse in northern Scandinavia. Along the eastern edge of the National Park is the Saltfjellet Protected Landscape Area that contains extensive tracts of boreal forest that create a natural tree line before a transition to arctic tundra and arctic mountain landscapes.
Explore this impressively grand landscape, as we journey through the stunning boreal forest, arctic tundra and alpine scenery within Saltfjellet and along the eastern edge of the National Park. Each of the contrasting arctic landscape types within these areas has its own distinctive wildlife, with many species that we may be privileged (or lucky enough) to see. This could include sightings or evidence of the Arctic Fox, an alpine mammal species that is close to extinction. The largest population of which reside in Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park.
The National Park and Protected Landscape Area both form part of an extensive area considered as the oldest and most important centre of Sami cultural heritage outside of the Finnmark Region. Traditional Sami reindeer husbandry has been undertaken continuously within the area for many hundreds of years.