Editor’s choice
Editor’s choice
The ski industry has a substantial impact on biodiversity, particularly in terms of land use for ski resorts and infrastructure, slope management, artificial snow production, resource consumption, waste generation, and emissions from supply chains. These pressures are compounded by climate change, which affects snowfall patterns and increases reliance on artificial snow, further exacerbating biodiversity challenges.
The environmental impacts of skiing extend beyond competition events. Many indirect effects stem from supply chain activities, including deforestation, unsustainable sourcing of materials, and emissions linked to travel and logistics. The selection of non-sustainable suppliers for infrastructure, equipment, and food services can lead to severe biodiversity degradation, including habitat loss, pollution, and species decline.
In general, ski and winter sports-related ecological pressures include habitat loss and fragmentation due to resort expansion and infrastructure and slope development; disturbance of wildlife caused by ski activities, noise, and artificial lighting; introduction of invasive species through landscaping and imported materials; soil erosion and water depletion, especially linked to snowmaking and slope management before, during and after events and operations; pollution from chemicals, including artificial snow additives and slope maintenance substances; greenhouse gas emissions, both from event operations and supply chains.
While skiing activities impact biodiversity, they also depend on natural ecosystems. Healthy mountain environments and forests are essential for ski tourism and recreational activities. Biodiversity provides crucial ecosystem services, such as natural snow regulation through forest microclimates, soil stabilization and erosion control in ski areas, water filtration for snowmaking and environmental health and aesthetic and recreational benefits that enhance the ski experience.
Despite these dependencies, biodiversity is not yet fully integrated into sustainability strategies within the ski industry. Most environmental efforts in winter sports focus on climate change mitigation, carbon reduction, and energy efficiency, with limited attention to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The SLOPE project aims to change this.
The main objective of SLOPE is to enhance the knowledge of skiing’s impacts, risks and opportunities on biodiversity and to promote biodiversity capacity and management practices among national and international ski organizations. The project supports the integration of biodiversity management into governance frameworks and sustainability strategies, ensuring that winter sports organizations adopt effective solutions to reduce their environmental footprint.
By engaging key ski federations—including the French Ski Federation (FSF), the Norwegian Ski Association (NSF), the Estonian Ski Association (ESA), and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS)—SLOPE fosters a systematic approach to biodiversity management at both the organizational and event levels.
The project focuses on three distinct skiing ecosystems—the Alpine high-altitude mountains in France, the boreal lowlands in Estonia, and the subarctic fjord-mountains in Norway—allowing for a comprehensive assessment of biodiversity risks and pressures.
SLOPE is structured around three key pillars:
The project leans on the main principles of the European Green Deal and the European Biodiversity Strategy and integrates them with the Sport4Nature framework. These efforts ensure that biodiversity principles become embedded in winter sports governance and that project outcomes remain scalable and transferable across the industry.
SEI Tallinn leads the project’s communication, exploitation, and dissemination activities.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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