Indicators for Impact Management of Subarctic Mountain Resorts: Monitoring Built-up Areas at High Altitudes in Northern Finland

Abstract

Winter sport and nature-related tourism are growing fast at North European mountain resorts, where ecosystems are vulnerable to changes. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how natural constraints and land-use strategies steer the development of tourism infrastructure in subarctic mountain resorts. Furthermore, an indicator for monitoring and evaluating ongoing development was created. For the study objectives, landscape structures of two subarctic mountain resorts in Finnish Lapland were modelled by the visual overlapping of 3D-terrain models and erosion vulnerability maps of soils and vegetation with the geographical information system. Four landscape zones were separated on the ground of their overall erosion resistance. Additionally, hectares of built-up areas were transformed to spatial data of the most vulnerable summit and upper slope zones. The statistic indicates the clear cutting volume of the high altitudes and predicts erosion risk. The findings indicated that resorts have locked on a pro-growth mode, which threatens the fundamental flows between subarctic mountain ecosystems and may affect visitors' contentment in the long run. Simple models are suggested for discussion of acceptable changes to conditions in mountain resorts.

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