Safaris

If you are a safari entrepreneur or/and snowmobile sled transport entrepreneur and use state-owned land in your operations, you must agree with Metsähallitus in advance on your safari operations and the snowmobile tracks to be used in them.

The use of both Metsähallitus permit tracks and other tracks available to entrepreneurs must be agreed upon in advance. Metsähallitus permit tracks in Lapland and Eastern Finland can be found on the Snowmobile routes and tracks page.

The company needs the following for safari operations

A safari consent or track agreement with Metsähallitus on the use of a certain track.
A safari-specific off-road permit, which you can obtain by submitting a safari notification in the Eräluvat.fi service.
Read detailed instructions here.

The company needs the following for snowmobile sled transport business operations

A safari consent or track agreement with Metsähallitus on the use of a certain track.
Off-road traffic permit for personnel or for event participants.
Read detailed instructions here.

Consent is required when a company uses Metsähallitus snowmobile tracks or company tracks for business purposes. The consent does not apply to official snowmobile routes or tracks maintained by municipalities.

Consent is applied for using an electronic form, depending on the area of operation:

Note! To be granted the consent, the company must attach a safety document to the application (see tukes.fi).

If your company operates safari or sled transport services both in Enontekiö and elsewhere in Finland, please fill out only one application form. All areas of operation must be indicated on the form. However, if the company submits two separate applications at different times, this will result in two separate agreement fees.

€80 + VAT 25.5% on Metsähallitus general snowmobile tracks
€160 + VAT 25.5% on Metsähallitus general snowmobile tracks and/or also on separately agreed company tracks

Creating a user account for safari notifications

Once consent has been granted, create a user account for the company with the email address you want to use to submit safari notifications. You can create an account here.

A verification code will be sent to the given email address. Enter the code in the requested location. You can then save your password and enter your basic information.
Once this is done, send the email address you want linked to your company account to maastoliikenneluvat@metsa.fi. Metsähallitus will make the link in its system. Wait for confirmation by email - only then can you log in to the Business Portal and submit safari notifications.

Please note that multiple email addresses can be linked to your company account to submit safari notifications. A private person may have two different user accounts in the Eräluvat.fi system: one with their own email address for fishing permits, for example, and the other with the company’s email address for safari notifications.

Safari-specific off-road traffic permit with a safari notification

A notification for each safari must be made before its start in the Eräluvat.fi Business Portal. You can submit safari notifications, for example, one week in advance.

A safari-specific off-road traffic permit covers tracks that have been agreed upon with Metsähallitus.

Safari-specific off-road permit prices

The price of a safari-specific off-road permit depends on the number of vehicles to be used (total vehicles for guides and customers):

1-3 vehicles: €10/day (VAT 0%)
4-6 vehicles: €25/day (VAT 0%)
7 or more vehicles: €40/day (VAT 0%)

Payment of safari permits

Based on the notifications, Metsähallitus will invoice the completed safaris at the end of the safari season.

Snowmobile sled transport organised by companies

When a company organises snowmobile sled transport as a business, the company must also obtain a landowner´s consent and an off-road permit for the guides serving as drivers.

See the terms and application instructions above on this page under the section Applying for Safari Consent. Consent is applied for using an electronic form, depending on the area of operation (Enontekiö or oyher parts of Finland).
If the company already has consent for safari business, it is also valid for sled transport business.

Off-road permit for the guides serving as drivers

The name of the permit is Off-road traffic permit for personnel or for event participants. Remember to also include the entrepreneur as a driver in the application for an off-road permit if they are serving as a guide on the excursion.
The price of a permit is EUR 50 per vehicle or guide living outside the municipality. The permit is valid for the entire quota period.
The permit is free of charge for guides driving in their municipality of residence.

An off-road traffic permit is also required for Metsähallitus contract tracks

Even if a company has an agreement with Metsähallitus on the use of a certain track for safari operations, a safari notification must always be submitted for each safari. In older agreements, there is often no such requirement. In this case, safari-specific notifications are not required as long as the contract is valid.

Cases in which no off-road traffic permit is required

State-owned lands contain many official snowmobile routes and snowmobile tracks maintained by municipalities and associations. A company does not need to sign an agreement with Metsähallitus for its operations or acquire a Metsähallitus off-road permit if it is using official snowmobile routes or tracks maintained by municipalities/associations.

Use of Metsähallitus hiking structures in business operations

If a company uses Metsähallitus hiking structures, such as day huts, wilderness huts for daytime use, campfire sites, dry toilets, marked trails or other similar structures in its business operations, the company must conclude an agreement on tourism cooperation and rights of use with Parks & Wildlife Finland.

The price of the cooperation agreement consists of a basic fee (one-time fee) and an annual fee according to the use of the hiking structures. Read more on cooperation agreements with nature tourism business on the metsa.fi website.