A Nordic research project funded by NordForsk is underway to investigate the growing challenges facing Arctic national parks and nearby communities. The ALAMOT project, which involves researchers from Finland, Sweden and Norway focuses on the pressures of climate change and tourism in northern biodiversity and Sápmi. Its goal is to find practical and fair solutions for protecting both biodiversity and Indigenous rights and livelihoods in these rapidly changing regions.
Climate change is already having a clear and visible impact on the Arctic. These changes are affecting ecosystems, reindeer herding, and other land-based livelihoods that are central to Sámi culture. At the same time, national parks and wilderness areas across northern Fennoscandia are receiving record numbers of visitors. While tourism brings income and jobs to the region, it also creates risks for wildlife, land use, and local communities, especially if growth is not properly managed.
The project aims to better understand how these two forces, climate change and tourism, are reshaping the north. Importantly, the research does not only focus on nature and statistics; it also examines how local people, particularly the Sámi, are affected by these changes, and how they are involved – or excluded – from the decisions that affect their lands and ways of life within and in the vicinity of national parks.
Empirical research methods are utilized through interviews and stakeholder participation in the project's joint workshops. ALAMOT implements case studies in Arctic National Parks (NPs) or comparable protected areas, all situated in Sápmi (the Sámi homeland), with several case study areas in each of the three countries. Where relevant, we extend our analysis to broader landscapes to assess the impacts of climate change and overtourism as comparative benchmarks to NP-specific findings, while considering the connectivity of protected areas and species' ability to move between them.
A major part of the ALAMOT project is dedicated to examining the laws and policies that apply in Arctic national parks and other protected areas. This includes looking at how environmental laws, tourism regulations, and Indigenous rights frameworks are being applied—and whether they are working as intended. By the end of the project, ALAMOT will produce a set of concrete legal and policy recommendations aimed at governments, national park authorities, and international bodies.
Further information
Project manager in Syke Aino Lipsanen (aino.lipsanen@syke.fi)
Consortium leader Minna Pappila (minna.pappila@syke.fi)