Sustainable Tourism

For us, sustainability and responsibility are about much more than protecting the environment. They are about the actions we take and the positive impact we can have on the world around us – on nature, our local communities and the people we meet along the way.

From protecting Lapland’s nature and investing in new forests to supporting education, local communities, youth sports and charities, we believe that even small actions can make a meaningful difference. Our goal is simple. We want to give something back, contribute where we can, and leave the places and communities around us a little better than we found them.

If we want future generations to have the same experiences that we do now, it’s essential that we take action towards sustainability. At Wild About Lapland, we are committed to leading our business sustainably. We are continually striving to improve our work to ensure ecological, economic, and social sustainability. By choosing a responsible tour operator like us, you not only do something good for our planet but also ensure a higher quality and more enjoyable experience. Below, you can see what we do to act sustainably.

Environmental

Finland has the cleanest air in the world and amazing nature all year round. We aim to protect the wilderness in Lapland.

• We offer sustainable tours that include activities such as Northern Lights tours, ski trekking, snowshoeing, hiking, canoeing, and more.

• While we do use cars for transportation, we try to increase our use of hybrid cars to minimize our environmental impact.

• We use existing trails and fireplaces.

• We aim to minimize our carbon footprint and become a carbon-neutral company. In 2020, we calculated (using Myclimate) our carbon footprint to be 2.5 tonnes of CO₂. Currently we are recalculating our carbon footprint.

• We compensate our carbon footprint with donations to various sustainability projects and reforestation activities.

• Our groups are limited to 8 people maximum to minimize the environmental impact of our tours.

• We strictly follow “never leave any trash behind” guideline.

• We choose equipment that is durable to minimize waste and try to reduce our use of plastic by using paper cups and reusable water bottles.

• We use recycled paper in our office and use environmentally friendly cleansers.

• We try to save water, electricity, and heating energy wherever possible.

• We source around two thirds of the firewood used in our operations directly from our own land at Silver Birch Resort.

• We use mostly green energy (water, wind, and bioenergy) to power our operations.

Social

We have implemented measures to enhance customer experience and support the well-being of the local community.

• Our tours are of high-quality standard due to the small group size and the experience and knowledge of our guides.

• We aim to educate our guests about the environment and the culture in Lapland, giving them a better understanding of their surroundings.

• Offering tours throughout the year enables us to emphasize different aspects of nature.

• We always give an introduction to our guests on how to behave responsibly during our tours and encourage them to continue practicing responsible behavior after their tour. To learn more about responsible tourism, we recommend reading the Sustainable Finland Pledge.

• We are aware of the risks involved in our activities and take measures to reduce them. All our guides are licensed first-aiders.

• We welcome recommendations from our guests and employees and strive to implement them to improve our services.

• We also prioritize responsible behavior from our suppliers whenever possible.

• We support local communities and sport teams.

• We support several charities with donations.

• We support the Global Economic Ethic Manifesto to fight against violence and exclusion of people.


Corporate Governance

We carefully select our partners to ensure they meet our high quality standards, just as we promise our guests.

• We are proud to cooperate with local farmers, such as reindeer herders and husky farmers, to support small family-owned businesses and offer our customers an authentic experience.

• Our guides are based in Rovaniemi, which not only contributes to the high quality of our tours due to their local knowledge but also supports local employment.

• We take great care to provide our employees with safe and fair working conditions, encouraging a healthy work-life balance and lifestyle.

• We are committed to treating all employees equally, guaranteeing equal pay without discrimination of any kind and following non-discriminatory recruitment policies.

• Our employees are trained and provided with information on how to act responsibly, ensuring that we maintain the highest standards of safety and quality.

• We value the input of our employees and prioritize the development and improvement of our tours and operations, providing them with the freedom to express their opinions, experiences, and doubts.

Wild About Lapland is committed to the Manifesto of Responsible Tourism Enterprise which ensures responsible behavior. We also have the Biosphere Certificate for sustainable tourism. The Biosphere Certificate ensures a responsible and sustainable operation of our tours. It is based on the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) which are divided into environmental, economic, social and cultural goals. With this certification, it allows us to participate in the Sustainable Travel Finland project as well. The project aims to help tourism entities in Finland to develop sustainably to meet changing demands and grow.

Our company has made a social commitment to sustainable development “Commitment 2050“. The national sustainable development strategy was revised in 2013. The sustainable development committee decided to prepare a sustainable development social commitment “The Finland we want in 2050” instead of a traditional strategy.

Do you want to visit Lapland? Come join us and support our mission to become and stay sustainable! Find out more about what you can do with the Responsible Traveler Manifesto. For coming to Lapland, we recommend you take into account that booking a train or public transport is the most responsible way. There is an excellent connection from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. If this is not an option for you, you can also compensate your journey here or offset your travel emissions by donating to planting trees while booking your experiences with Wild About Lapland.

All of our trips are highly responsible, as we do things which bring you close to nature and do our best to teach you about them. We look forward to welcoming you to Rovaniemi in the future!