Oryx, Qatar, 1 August 2019

A HOLIDAY MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Tap into one of the year’s biggest travel trends –conscious tourism – on a Biosphere Expeditions trip. We travelled to Dalarna, Sweden, to experience a wildlife break like no other as a citizen scientist

WORDS SAM MITTMERHAM

WE APPROACH THE bear den slowly and quietly. Somewhere in the vast forest around us a twig snaps. We freeze in our tracks and my heart misses a beat. I gaze anxiously towards Andrea, our leader and bear scientist. She looks around, shakes her head and gives the all clear. I relax and continue towards the den, negotiating my way over rough terrain in this magical forest in Dalarna, Sweden, four hours from Stockholm. Mosses and lichen drape a thick carpet over stones and boulders. Tall pines and spruces stand like giant soldiers all about, infusing us with the earthen smell of wood and grass. Mist swirls across the ground as the sun asserts itself into a glorious midsummer day. My GPS guides me towards the den and as I crest the rolling hill, I can see it. Empty. No bear to be seen. So, to work we go.

We are exploring this forest wilderness in Sweden as part of a citizen science project with Biosphere Expeditions. Our aim: to help conserve the brown bears that still roam this part of the world. Biosphere Expeditions, founded in 1999, is a non-profit wildlife conservation NGO and a leader in conscious travel.

We are lucky to have its founder, Dr Ma hias Hammer, a biologist trained at Oxford and Cambridge, lead our expedition. “Our planet is in crisis,” he says, “and we want to empower people to do something about it, by getting hands-on with wildlife conservation projects all over the world.” Indeed, the NGO works around the planet on projects involving snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan, coral reefs in

Above: Participants found and documented bear winter dens and summer day beds

the Maldives, wolves in Germany, sea turtles in Costa Rica and much more. “The beautiful thing about biology is that it’s a lot of stamp collecting,” explains Dr Hammer. “There is no computer or drone that can count and assess bear dens – and there are lots of them. We can train people in a day or two to perform the scientific tasks around the den – measure it, describe it, look for bear signs and so on. It is easy to morph into a citizen scientist in a day and the more we have, the more data we can gather, the better we can protect the bears. So people can really help for a week or two in their holiday time, whatever their previous background.”

The Dalarna

countryside

Right:

province offers picturesque and quintessentially Scandinavian

“WE WANT TO EMPOWER PEOPLE TO GET HANDS-ON WITH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROJECTS ALL OVER THE WORLD“

Above right: Citizen scientists trekking through the countryside during the expedition

Above left: One of the lodges at which participants stayed during the expedition

ON TREND FOR 2019

It makes sense, I find myself thinking. And on the ground, in the forest, it does. The learning curve is steep, but a er a couple of days I really feel like I am contributing; that my holiday has a purpose beyond relaxation and pampering. It feels great, especially because it’s not just lip service. In its 20-year history, Biosphere Expeditions has been involved in creating protected areas on four continents, stopping the destruction of wilderness and wildlife, and being an advocate for our beleaguered planet and its natural environments. I am proud to be part of this story. But this story is not a holiday in the usual sense. “Science is not safari,” says Dr Hammer, his hands and knees dirty as he emerges from a bear den he has just measured on the inside together with Jan, a citizen scientist from Germany. “They won’t serve you wildlife experiences on a plate, but they will immerse you in wildlife conservation and teach you so much,” Jan agrees. “I’ve learnt a lot about bear biology, how to use a GPS and a relascope [a tool to measure tree dimensions], record scientific data, drive o -road and so much more. For me it

really is a holiday with a purpose and a conscience.”

Indeed, some have argued that consciousness is the new luxury when it comes to travel. On a planet rapidly running out of resources, there is no doubt a need to stop consuming so much and to find a new way to define luxury – one that gives back to the planet. “Conscious and responsible travel is perhaps one of the biggest trends in travel recently,” says Dr Hammer. “That’s great for us, for wildlife and definitely kinder to the planet.”

Biosphere Expeditions clearly wants to be kind to the planet and its inhabitants. I was impressed, for example, that only vegetarian food was served on the expedition because, as it states on the Biosphere Expeditions website, “The United Nations has identified vegetarianism as one of the major ways to reduce impact; it has also concluded that a global shi toward a vegetarian or vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst e ects of climate change.”

Back at the picturesque expedition base, there is an open fire and cabins straight out of a Swedish picture

Conscious tourism is not the only trend to shape the way we are exploring the world this year

GOING SOLO

Forget hotels when travelling alone and try “co-living” – luxe apartment complexes with shared spaces, cafés and workshops. WeLive and Roam are leading the way.

SHORT BUT SWEET

“Micro trips” are on the rise, with travellers seeking to squeeze more into their free time on weekends. Unusual accommodation is often a draw – anyone up for a holiday in a yurt?

LIFELONG LEARNING

Travel teaches life skills – and many travellers are seeking to take this further by organising trips with purpose. Think volunteering, cultural exchanges and skills-based holidays.

book. It is conscious, not five-star, luxury, especially a er a day in the woods carrying out our mission.

That night, around the crackling open fire, expedition scientist Dr Andrea Friebe explains why our work is so vital to Sweden’s bear population. “Detailed knowledge about bear dens and denning behaviour is important, because it helps to avoid human-bear conflict and provides important population, reproductive and other ecological information,” she says.

“And this is critical for successful bear conservation.”

Without hard data, there is no basis for successful conservation. I get it and I get our role as citizen scientists in this process. So do my fellow expeditioners around the fire, their faces lit up by the flames that lick into the air. They nod and they ask questions that show they have understood.

Within days our group of 10 people, an expedition leader and an expedition scientist, have formed into a team bound by a common goal and understanding. When we go out again tomorrow into these enchanting woods, it will be with a spring in our step and not a li le trepidation about meeting a bear on his home ground – and sure enough the next day a group observes a bear crossing the road in front of them. But most of all with the knowledge that we are here to help these magnificent creatures survive and thrive in the wild. This really is the best way to spend a holiday. biosphere-expeditions.org

MORE FROM BIOSPHERE EXPEDITIONS 1 Head to Portugal in April 2020 to assist in a survey of whales, dolphins and turtles in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 2 In November 2019, a group of citizen scientists will take part in a diving expedition to investigate the coral reefs of the remote and mountainous Musandam peninsula of Oman. 3 Join an expedition to the Maasai Mara in Kenya in February 2020 on a mission to protect the “Big Five” game animals and African biodiversity. 1

QATAR AIRWAYS FLIES TWICE DAILY FROM DOHA TO STOCKHOLM AND FIVE TIMES WEEKLY FROM DOHA TO GOTHENBURG

biosphere-expeditions.org