The Beauties of Wilderness

Aesthetic Experiences in Newspaper Articles about Hossa National Park and Evo Hiking Area 2016–2022

Abstract

Natural environments have long been protected because of their beauty and wonders.
The flagships of aesthetics-based nature conservation are national parks, whose recreational purpose has been understood in different ways at different times and in different places.
The article explores the kinds of aesthetic experiences associated with national parks and hiking in Finnish newspaper articles. The studied cases are i) Hossa, which was established as a hiking area in 1979 and transformed and expanded into a national park in 2017, and ii) Evo, which was established as a hiking area in 1993 and proposed as a science national park in 2021 by a working group appointed by the Ministry of the Environment. The primary research material consists of articles, reportages, editorials, and columns of provincial and local newspapers published in 2016–2022, especially in Kainuu and Häme regions.