| Summary: | Northern periphery tourism thrives largely on the wildness of the natural environment and often takes place in ecologically sensitive areas. In such areas sustainable tourism is vital, to ensure environmental protection and economic prosperity. However increased tourism, and especially hiking, within sensitive areas comes also increase thread of degradation and thus threatens the economic prosperity of tourism. Much research has been undertaken on ecological sensitivity analysis and the assessment of hiking trail degradation as an indicator of tourism use within sensitive environments. In most cases the research is based on the combination of different existing ecological parameters, and measurement of defined indicators, within vegetated areas. Yet, there is little research about environmental sensitivity and hiking trails in mostly barren environments in Iceland and Hokkaido. This research applies an existing ecological sensitivity model on well known hiking trails in Iceland and northern Japan to compare the sensitivity and hiking trail conditions in similar ecological and management setting. The research addresses the challenge of assessing ecological sensitivity with available resolution data, and conducting hiking trail degradation measurements in mountainous protected areas. The results suggest that the combination of ecological sensitivity analysis with hiking trail assessments is crucial to provide the necessary resolution of measurement points. The increased understanding of this interrelation helps making more accurate judgments of the actual condition of trails and support sustainable tourism management at mountainous protected areas. The Footprint of Tourism: Ecological sensitivity and hiking trail assessment at selected protected areas in Iceland and Hokkaido. The data collected for this project originated in a research project on Vatnajökull by Dr. Rannveig Ólafsdóttir and was funded by the friends of Vatnajökull. The data from Japan was collected by Harald Schaller and was funded by the ...
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