Posted: November 27, 2024
A version of this article was originally published on Adventure Travel News, and can be viewed here.
Passing spruce-covered hills with every stroke of the paddle, our small canoe expedition glided across the clear waters of Oulanka, one of the longest rivers in Finland’s northernmost Lapland region that’s known for its vast wilderness areas, never-ending summer sun, and exquisite Northern Lights displays. Part of the eponymous Oulanka National Park, the river starts just north of the Arctic Circle, twists and turns through wild rapids and quiet shoals, cutting through glacial landscapes of dramatic canyons and ancient boreal forests in the eastern part of Lapland called Ruka-Kuusamo, and eventually finds its way into Russia’s Karelia.
We were out on a 10-mile canoeing trip through some of the calmer parts of the river, led by Tommi Kallberg, the owner and lead guide of Oulangan Taika, a local company offering guided wilderness journeys in the 100-square-mile national park and beyond. Although I felt like we were alone on the river, this is one of Finland’s most popular national parks, receiving more than 175,000 visitors last year. While this may not sound like much, the entire Ruka-Kuusamo region is home to just over 15,000 people in an area the size of Delaware. “In Finland, we say that if there are more than 10 people in your way, it’s crowded,” mused Kallberg.
Just as we passed another river bend where a reindeer, one of the area’s more ubiquitous residents, seemed oblivious to our group’s paddling efforts, Kallberg motioned toward a wooden hut on the shore. These open wilderness huts, he explained, can be found every five miles, making it easier for hikers to have multi-day camping adventures.
By the time we had dragged our canoes on the sand of a nearest shore, Kallberg stopped by one such hut to prepare firewood for our campground lunch. “When we visit these huts, we chop enough wood for our needs,” he said. “And we make sure to leave some behind for the next person.”
In Ruka-Kuusamo, I’ve come across this aspect of Finnish culture – caring for wild spaces and sharing them with others – multiple times. It’s widely known that being in nature is part of everyday life in Finland. Most Finns regularly spend time outdoors hiking, skiing, picking wild berries, or fishing. There’s even a legal concept that ensures anyone – visitor or resident – can hike, camp, or gather nature’s bounty in any Finnish countryside, regardless of the land’s ownership status.
Our recent Finland trip to this lesser-known part of Lapland was operated by Adventure Apes, a Finnish adventure company that has pioneered accessible nature tours in the region. “Nature belongs to no one, but everyone belongs to nature,” said Heidi Savolainen, owner and lead adventure guide of Adventure Apes, as we sipped our first cup of vitamin-C-rich black currant tea, a local staple. From Adventure Apes equipping our group with refillable water bottles at the start of the trip and using trains for our cross-country treks, to Ruka Ski Resort – the region’s largest employer – heating nearly all of its properties with geothermal energy, it was evident that easy access to the great outdoors has forged in the Finnish DNA a deep connection to nature and the desire to preserve it.
In this region, it’s an urgent task. The Arctic climate is already warming three times faster than the global average, affecting not only the local industries and nature, but also the Finnish way of life itself. The country’s ambitious goal to be carbon-neutral by 2035 was signed into law by the 2022 national Climate Act. And unlike other such pledges around the world, the Finnish commitment is backed by action. 
Liisa Kokkarinen heads Sustainable Travel Finland, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive sustainability program developed by Visit Finland, the signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, in the last few years. During our time in the city of Oulu, set to become the European Capital of Culture in 2026, Kokkarinen shared that 80% of Finland is covered by forests. (This works out to about 15,000 trees for each Finn.) The country has 188,000 lakes and the richest freshwater resources in the European Union, with water so clean you can drink it. “These are the ingredients that make Finland,” Kokkarinen said. “And these are also the reasons why we have to act, because I really do want my children and the future generations to have the same opportunities to enjoy it.”
The Sustainable Travel Finland (STF) program stands out among its peers. First, it approaches sustainable tourism development from a holistic perspective, focusing on cultural, social, and economic sustainability in addition to environmental responsibility. The goal, Kokkarinen told me, is to build an inclusive tourism industry that ensures the vitality of local communities while also reducing economic inequalities. In Arctic Finland, that means protecting the rights of the Indigenous Sámi people and understanding how to best manage the fragile land of the region.
And second, STF is a multi-partner collaborative effort where businesses – including hotels, tour operators, restaurants, and harbors – destinations like Kuusamo, and institutions like the Sámi Parliament and the Finnish wildlife management body, have all come together to determine what sustainability means in the Finnish context. “No one can be sustainable alone,” explained Kokkarinen. “With sustainability, you really need your partners and you need the whole value chain,” she added.
Moving beyond a label, STF is an educational sustainable development program that provides each partner with toolkits like this free carbon footprint calculator to adapt sustainability principles into their daily operations. To date, five destinations in Finland and more than 400 businesses have earned the STF accreditation. Some organizations enrolled in the free-to-the-industry program might not be able to meet all the criteria for certification, but they want to take the steps they can anyway. “The most important is, of course, not the label,” Kokkarinen told me, “but that you change your actions.”
During our time in Ruka-Kuusamo, our group witnessed a spectacular aurora borealis performance two nights in a row, hiked parts of the 50-mile Karhunkierros (Bear Circle), the most famous trail in the Oulanka National Park, and plunged into icy-cold lake waters during a traditional Finnish sauna experience. Despite the jet lag and the active schedule, I had some of my best sleep in a long time here. Perhaps the fact that, according to the latest World Air Quality Report, this region has the cleanest air in the world had something to do with it. Thanks to the sustainability efforts happening in Finland, there’s a good chance it will stay that way for years to come.
