Protecting biodiversity in Finland

Project goals

• Protecting and preserving biodiversity in Finnish destinations
• Reducing negative impacts from tourism activities in Finnish destinations

The Futouris industry project “Biodiversity in Tourism” forms the basis

The project with Visit Finland builds on the Futouris industry project “Biodiversity in Tourism,” which aims to maximize tourism’s contribution to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in tourism destinations, reduce negative impacts, and embed concrete measures in all processes of the core tourism business.

As part of the industry project, Futouris is collaborating with the nature conservation organization WWF Germany and the consulting agency mascontour. WWF Germany is developing a practical guide to support tourism companies in developing their individual biodiversity strategies and action plans. Seven Futouris pilot companies (tour operators) are developing their individual biodiversity strategies and action plans based on various practical checks described in the guide.

Development of recommendations for Finnish destinations by students

As part of the project with Visit Finland and the Harz University of Applied Sciences, twelve bachelor’s students in the Tourism Management program are developing recommendations for the preservation and protection of biodiversity and the reduction of negative impacts in Finnish destinations.

In two groups, the students are developing the steps described in the WWF guidelines for the two participating pilot destinations, the Arctic Lakelands and Helsinki. For example, they are identifying the relevant interest groups of the respective destinations and analyzing and evaluating the significant negative impacts of tourism activities on biodiversity.

On this basis, the students are developing appropriate recommendations for action and developing concrete measures, which they will present to the destinations in a final presentation.

Project activities

The following activities are planned:

• Lectures with representatives from Visit Finland and Futouris giving background information on the Finnish destinations and the analysis steps.
• Conduction of various analysis steps by students.
• Derivation of recommendations for action based on the analysis results.
• Development of a specific measure for each region.