Sustainable tourism in environmentally sensitive areas

“My project centres on evaluation of the influence of tourism in protected areas with special emphasis on the highlands that are characterized by sensitive ecosystems. I focus on environmental, social and economic impact. How can we obtain, and maintain, sustainable tourism in environmentally sensitive areas? This question is very important for Icelanders,” says Harald Josef Schaller, doctoral student in Geography.

The project is complicated and the participation of interested parties is necessary. “Damage by tourists is already a reality in Iceland. However, with management based on compromise between interested parties there is still a possibility that this industry will be sustainable in the future.”

Schaller says that complex social challenges interest him and that his studies have provided an opportunity to make an effort to solving them with better understanding than before. He is one of the grantees of the Watanbe trust fund of 2011 which made it possible for him to do his research at the University of Hokkaido for a period of time. “The protected areas in the North of Japan face the same problems as in Iceland. Working on my research in Japan provided an opportunity to compare the two countries.”

Schaller has always taken an interest in his environment. “I grew up in a Bavarian countryside in Germany. I hike for pleasure and having been raised on my relatives’ farm brought me closer to nature. Studying Geography was a logical progression in something that was already very important to me.”

The German doctoral student came to Iceland for the first time in 2006, as an exchange student, but he has been a student in Iceland since 2008. “Studying in Iceland has been great, not only due to the beautiful landscape, or excellent research possibilities, but also because of the unique career opportunities the country offers.”

Supervisor: Rannveig Ólafsdóttir, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Life- and Environmental Sciences.