A general view of Longyearbyen, located on Spitsbergen island, Svalbard Archipelago, northern Norway.LONGYEARBYEN - Home to polar bears, the midnight sun and the northern lights, a Norwegian archipelago perched high in the Arctic is trying to find a way to profit from its pristine wilderness without ruining it.
The local coal mines -- the original reason for human settlements here -- have closed one after the other over the years, and tourism has become one of the main pillars of the local economy, along with scientific research. Around 140,000 people visit these latitudes each year, according to pre-pandemic data, where 65 percent of the land is protected.
"It attracts people, like all rare places. But these places remain fragile, so you have to be respectful when you visit them." The biggest of the behemoths can drop off up to 5,000 passengers in Longyearbyen, the archipelago's modest main town whose infrastructure, such as roads and toilets, is not designed to accommodate such large crowds.With tourism here already attracting a rather exclusive clientele, some operators are going further than regulations require, such as Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten which aims to become"the most environmental tour operator in the world".
But electrification efforts in the archipelago are currently hobbled by the fact that electricity comes from a coal plant -- a fossil energy source that contributes to global warming.
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