Wild Iceland is an Icelandic trekking operator with an emphasis on eco tourism and environmentally friendly trekking trips. Our focus is to give you genuine experiences in the wild Icelandic nature. We specialize in longer treks and multi-day hikes. Wild Iceland is a branch of Arctic Adventures which has been operating trekking and other adventure trips for over 25 years. Ásdís Dögg Ómarsdóttir is the manager of Wild Iceland and has worked in the industry for over 10 years as a guide and a sales person. Aðalsteinn Birgisson is the head guide also with years of experience in the field. All of our guides need to go through extensive training and first aid courses to be qualified to guide the trips within Wild Iceland. All trip leaders have a Wilderness First Responder certificate as well as most of our guides.
Our mission statement is simply: “Nature is the adventure”. Through it we have tailored all our trips in such a way that they do not harm or effect the nature. We always inform all our clients of how to take part and pass through nature without leaving a mark.
Our four guidelines are:
Take nothing but pictures.
Kill nothing but time.
Leave nothing but footprints.
Make nothing but memories.
Environmental Responsibility:
On our treks through the magnificent Icelandic nature we place a heavy emphasis on our Leave No Trace Policy.
At the start of every trip we will provide participants with information on how best to pass through without leaving their mark, so future generations can visit these special places in their natural state.
We run our own guide school here in Iceland where we train all our own guides. They are all passionate about their environment and its conservation. Environmental matters are kind of imprinted in all Icelanders. We are the only nation that depends solely on renewable energies for heating our houses and creating electricity (no fossil fuels except for cars). The conservation of electricity here in Iceland is therefore not the same big issue as elsewhere in Europe. We also have an abundant supply of water since we have very much rain- and snowfall. In addition to that the Icelandic nature is so unspoiled that all running water in Iceland is fit for drinking, right out of the rivers and streams. Hence, bottled water is not an environmental concern, it is not used on any of our trips.
When we need transport between places or transfer of luggage or supplies we offset the carbon emission through the Icelandic Carbon fund.
We also take part in the Icelandic Nature Conservation organization and through them take an active part in supervision over constructions in the highlands of Iceland. The organization is puplic forum that issues statements and gives their opinion on all matters concerning construction in the Icelandic nature.
We recycle as much of our waste as possible. Both at our office, at our basecamps, in our restaurant and on tours we take all waste with us and dispose of it after the trip. We always buy ecological labelled products and all our printed material has the Nordic Eco-Label which is the official ecological label of the Nordic Countries. In Iceland the Nordic Ecolabel is hosted by the Environment Agency of Iceland, Umhverfisstofnun, and it has a wide spread acknowledgement and trust amongst Nordic consumers.
