Sustainablility

Responsibility deeds of local operators

Äksyt Ämmät

Äksyt Ämmät is a well-known speaker for sustainable and ecological tourism, which has been offering eco-friendly holidays to its customers over 20 years. In 2017, Äksyt Ämmät received a diploma rewarded by Visit Finland for being the top entrepreneur in sustainable development. The tour operator and activity commissioner has also been CSR Tourism certified since 2011, which allows it to calculate its carbon footprint in all its operations, and to further develop ways of promoting sustainable tourism. Äksyt Ämmät got the Sustainable Travel Finland label 2020. All in all, Äksyt Ämmät is the perfect choice for you who want to visit Bomba as eco-friendly as possible!

Äksyt Ämmät works in cooperation with several local service providers, associations, and various tourism organizations to foster sustainable tourism. They often lecture on international marketing and sustainability as well. Internationally, Äksyt Ämmät is involved in Responsible Travel and the Forum Anders Reisen network, which promotes responsible tourism. One of the Sustainable Travel Finland companies.

Localness and social responsibility are also emphasized in the tour operator’s values: Äksyt Ämmät employs local guides who know the area and culture inside out. The guides will be happy to tell you stories about the area as well, even without asking! Your “main guide” Minna and hostess Kirsi are travel guides trained by the Finnish Guide Association. Äksyt Ämmät offers engaging programs for special groups as well. Vision Outdoor’s visually impaired from Germany, for example, have been on summer holidays at Äksyt Ämmät and enjoyed the joy of paddling a canoe for fifteen years.

Here are some of sustainable travel principles of Äksyt Ämmät:

• Äksyt Ämmät compensates the flights of its flying customers from their country of departure to Finland and from Nurmes to the nearest airports. Compensation is routed through atmosfair.de to a suitable destination. With flight compensation, Äksyt Ämmät may use the 100% Klimaschutz mark (100% climate subsidy) in its marketing in Central Europe.
• The company actively participates in the working group of the North Karelia Biosphere Reserve, which aims to provide innovations and solutions for climate protection, among other things, by promoting sustainable tourism.
• Waste produced by the company’s own Guesthouse Pihlajapuu has been recycled since its early years. The compost, for example, is used in the soil of peppermint and chocolate mint fields to make several jars of dried peppermint and chocolate mint tea for you to enjoy in winter!
• Guesthouse Pihlajapuu uses only ecological, eco-friendly, and vegan detergents.
• The home kitchen of Guesthouse Pihlajapuu is busy from morning to night, so that you could enjoy home-made food from start to finish, such as jams, berry juice from the yard’s trees, baked rolls, and oat cookies. The guesthouse offers you mainly locally grown food: the vendace and pike perch brought by Mr. Paavo, the berries picked from the garden nearby, and the mushrooms brought by Mr. Pauli.

Youth and Holiday Centre Hyvärilä

In Youth and Holiday Centre Hyvärilä, you may enjoy nature and the beauty of Lake Pielinen while respecting the local environment. From Hyvärilä, you can rent eco-friendly rental equipment, such as rowing boats, canoes, sup-boards, and bicycles. The environmental values of the Centre also crystallize its desire to act and offer you the opportunity to enjoy nature in its richest form:

• The hotel has solar panels, along with which waste heat is collected and water is saved by adjusting the flows. The hotel also uses energy lamps and motion-sensing luminaires.
• Local or organic food is mainly used in cooking. Bio-scales are used, and recycling and collection points are located in all accommodation.
• Detergents and toilet and kitchen towels are eco-labeled. Instead of a dryer, you can also dry your laundry outdoors.

In addition to its environmental values, Hyvärilä takes social, economic, and cultural responsibility into account, as a Youth Centre should. The Centre has drawn up a plan to promote equality and non-discrimination and hires local youths for summer jobs. Hyvärilä also trains its staff regularly through the Finnish Youth Centre’s training, and one employee has a special vocational degree in environmental education. In the future, an important theme for the Centre is to compliance with the new Accessibility Directive, which will further promote the service of different people and special groups.

In Hyvärilä, you will find a wide range of activities through which you can also support responsible tourism. The Centre’s principles for responsibility is also reflected in the many certificates it has received, such as the Green Key eco-label and the Lyke Certificate. One of the Sustainable Travel Finland companies.

Pielisen Retki

Pielisen Retki offers you quality and nature respecting services both on water and ground as well as at the dinner table. The company provides fishing, camping, and food services through which you can relax in the breathtaking scenery of Lake Pielinen. Taking care of the sustainability and cleanliness of nature is an important part of a company’s services so that you could draw strength from going outdoors. In the future, the company wants to bring out more of its responsibility, and thus, it will be even easier for you to choose a responsible service provider!

Pielisen Retki promotes sustainable tourism through the following means:

• The company aims to use plastic as scarcely as possible.
• Low emissions play an important role. The boats used by the company, for example, have the lowest-emission engines on the market, so you can fly on the surface of Lake Pielinen while respecting the environment.
• Littering is strictly prohibited so that the home of animals and fish is kept clean.
• Hiking trips follow the same trails to prevent damaging the environment.
• The company also emphasizes locality: the company hires young locals for summer jobs and favors locally grown food ingredients.
• The company is also active in improving the spawning grounds of migratory fish in the area of Nurmes alone and cooperation with others.

Bomba-Action

Bomba-Action offers you diverse experiences and program services all year round at your request. Bomba-Action organizes fast-paced snowmobile, quad bike, and water jet safaris, and fishing trips on the shores of Lake Pielinen. If you are looking for slower-paced action on your holiday, it will be arranged by Janne and Ritva Nevalainen, the couple behind the company! If you wish, you can also relax in the sauna, and many tourists head outdoors to enjoy nature by snowshoeing and going to dog sledding tours. You can also rent cottages on the shores of Lake Pielinen through Bomba-Action.

Bomba-Action works closely with other tourism entrepreneurs in the area, the most important partners being Break Sokos Hotel Bomba, Koli Activ, Visit Karelia, and Koli Husky. Together they are promoting responsible tourism, so that you too could enjoy the traditional Finnish landscape at its best!

Bomba-Action takes care of the environment in the following ways:

• Bomba-Action has comprehensive safety plans for all its services. Your safety and taking care or the environment are cornerstones of the company.
• The company uses only modern, correctly maintained equipment to ensure your safety and to prevent environmental harms.
• The company strives to ensure continuous development and quality of service.
• Every member of the pack is well cared for! In addition to the snacks, care, love, and pettings they receive, the dogs also get to proper jogs at least a couple of times a week: Huskies are bred for running and are one of the most famous sled dogs around the world.

Kourukoski

Kourukoski offers you an unforgettable wilderness experiences in Finland`s rugged natural settings. You can enjoy hunting and fishing and try out unique culinary experiences in North Karelia. Responsibility is the cornerstone of the company, which means that the hunter is responsible for animals and the environment. Responsibility for customers also complies with established laws and regulations, as well as generally accepted practices for valuing nature. That’s why you, too, have an important role to play in continuing the good spiral, and sustaining the local environment!

Kourukoski’s guidelines for taking care of the local environment and its customers:

• Respecting the game is an important part of responsible hunting. Responsible hunters should leave minimal footprints when in nature, scale the poaches to the current game stocks, and follow the set quotas and recommendations of ethical hunting.
• In Kourukoski, wastes are handled ecologically, the aim is to recycle waste as efficiently as possible and compost biowaste. There are plans to switch to the use of renewable energy as well.
• The company works for declining waterbird populations and creates new habitats for fauna. Habitat care and restoration are a big part of game management, which is why the company wants to take especially good care of the conservation of natural resources with an emphasis on wildlife and their natural habitat.

Break Sokos Hotel Bomba

Break Sokos Hotel Bomba is located on the shores of beautiful Lake Pielinen, from where you can easily explore Bomba’s sights and unique nature. The hotel is committed to taking care of the local environment in all of its services and processes. As proof of this, Break Sokos Hotel Bomba has been awarded the international Green Key eco-label, and the companies that have received it have shown that they promote sustainable tourism. Thanks to the eco-certified hotel, you have even better opportunities to make environmentally sustainable choices and reduce your own carbon footprint. One of the Sustainable Travel Finland companies.

Männikkölän pirtti

Männikkölän Pirtti offers you accommodation and food services, as well as a peaceful environment to have intimate parties or meetings with Karelian touch and warm hospitality. The guesthouse is especially known for its handmade Karelian pies throughout Finland, so on your visit to Bomba, it is definitely worth stopping by Männikkölä for a pie tasting! Männikkölän Pirtti also offers you diverse and enticing activities, such as cross-country skiing and herbal excursions, as well as moments of silence, which allow you to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature in all seasons.

Nature and sustainable tourism are important cornerstones for the guesthouse. Sorting waste, favoring locally grown food, and handmade products, utilizing green electricity, and wood pellet heating are the most prominent examples of the guesthouse’s eco-friendly actions. Männikkölän Pirtti also follows the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals and is involved in the North Karelia Biosphere Reserve. In this way, Männikkölän Pirtti ensures a holiday for you in the stunningly beautiful landscape of North Karelia!

Laitalan Lomat

Set in idyllic rural landscapes, Laitalan Lomat offers you accommodation, food, and program services in Valtimo. Your hosts, Mrs. Henna and Mr. Pasi Nevalainen, make sure that you get a unique memory and experience in traditional Karelian landscapes. A couple of kilometers from Laitalan Lomat is a farm, where grain and rapeseed are currently grown for livestock farms.

Due to the nature of tourism and agriculture, the promotion of sustainable tourism and agriculture is particularly important for the entrepreneur couple. Working in natural conditions in an eco-friendly way is the main principle ​​for them, which will also help you choose a responsible eco-tourism operator for your holiday. By choosing Laitalan Lomat as your accommodation, you can also get close to a clean organic farm, which is involved in a farming project that slows down climate change. In addition to many quality labels, the entrepreneur couple was awarded a biodiversity certificate in 2015.

Following the principles of sustainable tourism, Laitalan Lomat is committed to working for the environment, and thus, will offer you only eco-friendly services. This way, together with the entrepreneur couple, you can ensure that future generations could also enjoy the beauty of Finnish nature and each of its seasons with various immersive activities.

Laitalan Lomat takes care of the environment in the following ways:

• Only Finnish ingredients are used in cooking. A wood-heated baking oven brings its finishing touch to food made responsibly and with love.
• Rapeseed and pure oats are grown on a nearby organic farm.
• Visitors are instructed to use water and electricity sparingly.
• The saunas are heated ecologically by wood.
• The waste is sorted appropriately: plastics, cardboard, bottles, glass, metal, and mixed waste always find the right place for recycling.
• The buildings are made of ecologically produced Finnish wood.
• Visitors are instructed to follow only the marked routes and not to damage the surrounding nature.
• Laitalan Lomat belongs to the Guesthouse to Guesthouse –activities network, which offers sustainable tourism services.

Nurmes is committed to making responsible and sustainable decisions for the environment and local society.

Nurmes is an environmentally responsible municipality with a new Green Energy industrial area and multiple food, metal, and wood industries. Nurmes takes part in the Carbon Neutral Municipalities project (HINKU) and, as a HINKU-municipality, has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions more extensively and rapidly than EU targets and schedules would require. Nurmes also has an important task to influence all actors in the region (residents, companies, agricultural and forestry entrepreneurs and leisure residents) in such a way that carbon neutrality is sought in reducing the region’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Examples of responsibility actions taken by Nurmes:

• In Nurmes, the principles of the circular economy have been applied, for example, in the new rail terminal of Pitkämäki. Crushed rock from the area nearby is used in the ground structures of the terminal. There was almost no need for crushed material imported from elsewhere.
• The new biogas plant in Valtimo is based on a circular economy by making biogas from manure, which results in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and the production of manure as a fertilizer.
• In local grocery stores, food waste is combated with 60% price reductions in the evenings for products that are either near or just passed its ‘best before’ date. Thanks to discounts and other efficiency measures, the rate of food waste has fallen to a significantly low level. The good cycle of the circular economy continues with responsible consumption at home, by reducing your own food waste, and composting food scraps and recycling packaging materials as instructed. You can recycle and take other climate actions together with all tourism operations in the Nurmes region.