Establishing transboundary guidelines for sustainable nature tourism
The aim of developing joint guidelines and working group for sustainable nature tourism is to protect natural diversity while allowing for recreational use of the protected areas.
The Finnish coordinator began by collecting two sets of principles regarding sustainable nature tourism in Norway and Finland, i.e. the principles of Metsähallitus (Agency responsible for managing most protected areas in Finland) and the Sustainable Model of Arctic Regional Tourism (SMART). Joint guidelines combining these sets of principles were prepared, which incorporated input from entrepreneurs, nature tourism working group and the project Steering Committee. The guidelines were added to the Action Plan for nature protection and sustainable nature tourism in Pasvik-Inari Area, and they were published on the project web page.
First there were good, existing national guidelines for sustainable nature tourism available in Norway and Finland, and there was agreement in all countries that sustainable nature tourism should be promoted in the Pasvik-Inari area. Second, acceptance of joint guidelines by local actors (entrepreneurs, stakeholders and nature-protection authorities) was gained through a sustainable nature tourism seminar. Third, funds for a translator were needed when local people attended the meetings.
The guidelines have been used less than expected, and the focus is more on nature protection cooperation than promoting tourism. National guidelines for sustainable tourism in Finnish nature protection areas are renewed in 2016, and joint efforts toward nature protection and sustainable tourism should be reflected in the future Pasvik-Inari cooperation.
During project implementation, the Russian border expanded and covered more area surrounding Pasvik State Nature Reserve. This reduced access for foreigners, tourism entrepreneurs, visitors, and Reserve staff.
The international working group promoting nature tourism has not met since 2010. It proved to be difficult to get the entrepreneurs of small companies together. Pasvik-Inari area is remote and travel distances are long, while resources of the entrepreneurs and companies are scarce. It was decided that experts in the action plan working group are invited to the meetings when needed.