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Sweden expedition 2026: Wrap-up

CITIZEN SCIENTISTS TRACK APEX PREDATOR: MULTI-YEAR WILDLIFE STUDY IN SWEDEN YIELDS RECORD DATA AMID INTENSIFYING PRESSURE ON BROWN BEARS

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden

A group of people and a Biosphere Expeditions flag
The 2026 Sweden bear expedition team

Non-profit wildlife conservation organisation Biosphere Expeditions has successfully concluded its 2026 brown bear research field season in the forests of Dalarna county, Sweden. Working alongside bear scientist Dr. Andrea Friebe of the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project, an international team of volunteer citizen scientists generated critical telemetry, behavioural and dietary data tracking the region’s Scandinavian brown bear (Ursus arctos) population.

The 2026 expedition operated against a backdrop of increasing ecological tension, following a historic and highly controversial large-scale government cull during the previous hunting season. Despite a reduced regional bear density, the 2026 team completed an unprecedented sweeping survey of the study site, documenting a record-breaking 46 winter dens and successfully recovering months of localised data from deep-winter temperature loggers and remote camera traps.

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Sweden expedition 2026: Hunting bears

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden 

A group of people and a Biosphere Expeditions flag
The 2026 Sweden bear expedition team

This outstanding team managed to check and record all the bear dens that Andrea wanted us to cover. That’s a first in all our years in Sweden and Andrea was very pleased on our last night together. Well done everyone!

But the last few days weren’t just about dens. They were also about hunting bears.

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Sweden expedition 2026: Tree trunks and quaking bogs

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden 

A hand pointing into a cavity made by rocks and used as a den by bears
A rock den

Our efficiency drive continues and we have only six bear dens left to do in our study site. There are fewer dens this year, because there was a big cull last year, so fewer bears built dens in the 2025/2026 season.

But our scientist Andrea has plenty of work for us, so we are also retrieving camera traps and temperature loggers from the field for her. The camera traps take pictures of animals and the temperature loggers are left in the dens over the winter to record temperatures inside. Once retrieved, Andrea can download months worth of data from them.

A hand holding a white bullet-shaped and sized temperature logger
A temperature logger, freshly retrieved from a bear den
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Sweden expedition 2026: Efficieny

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden 

A goup of people in the forest
Expedition team 2026

“You are too efficient” was the high praise we received yesterday from our expedition scientist Andrea and “I need to find more jobs for you”.

And indeed we have hit the groove. Wednesday and Thursday we went out by ourselves, all trained up and ready to find and document bear dens. I can’t think of a much better way to spend your time volunteering in Sweden.

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Sweden expedition 2026: Dens and flats

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden 

A flat car tyre
One of two after day one

What does one do on a bear conservation expedition? After day 1, the overwhelming answer seems to be: to get flat tyres 😉 But first things first…

On Monday our intrepid team of citizen scientists assembled in Mora, a small regional town in Dalarna county and end point of the famous 90 km Vasaloppet ski race.

A group of people standing next to a rock in a forest
The 2026 expedition team
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Sweden expedition 2026: Impacts

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden 

Satellite map of the Siljan impact crater
The Siljan Ring / impact crater

Impacts on geography

Greetings from Sweden and the massive Siljan impact crater (assembly point yellow, base red arrow). Luckily, the meteorite impact was over 300 million years ago.

Today you can still see the ring it created and in it upturned sheer walls full of fossils of the early ocean that was there before the impact.

A beautiful lake framed by sheer rock walls and pine trees
Sheer walls created by the impact…
… full of fossils
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The Environmental Cost of Overconsumption

Giraffe an zebras in the African steppe
Tranquil, intact nature – but for how much longer?

Global consumption levels are placing increasing pressure on the planet’s natural systems. In many parts of the world, constant purchasing, from new technology to fast fashion, has become normalised, yet the environmental cost of this consumption is becoming impossible to ignore.

While individual levels of overconsumption may seem inconsequential, collectively, our consumerism plays a significant role in accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.

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Sweden expedition 2026: Preamble

Update from our brown bear conservation expedition in Dalarna, Sweden 

A brown bear amongst some rocks
Brown bear in Dalarna county

Hello Sweden expeditioners Рthis is a short first diary entry from your expedition leader Matthias, just to say that I will be a few days ahead of you to set up base together with our scientist Dr. Andrea Friebe and assistant expedition leader Jan (Biekeh̦r).

A woman smiling into the camera
Dr. Andrea Friebe
A nab smiling into the camera
Dr. Matthias Hammer
A nab smiling into the camera
Jan Biekehör
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How a Maldives Conservation Expedition Gave Savannah Schilling a Sense of Purpose

Woman sitting in front of snow-covered mountains
Savannah Schilling

For Savannah Schilling, one of the most unexpected and lasting impacts of her Biosphere Expeditions experience was the people.

In the middle of the Indian Ocean, with limited WiFi and a shared purpose, she found herself part of something rare — a group brought together not just by travel, but by a genuine commitment to understanding and protecting the natural world.

It was an experience that felt both grounding and energising.

She quickly realised she was surrounded by others dedicated to conservation and making the world a better place for all living things.

‘It made me realise how many people care about conservation and want to help in a meaningful way. It was truly inspiring.’ That sense of connection would go on to shape her entire experience. But when Savannah first arrived in the Maldives, she wasn’t sure what she would find.

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Conservation Travel: Ethical Volunteering’s New Frontier

Media release – 28 April 2026

Four people bent over a headlamp light at night, one of them has a small bat in his hands
Citizen scientists doing bat work at night in Malawi

As the 2026 travel season is in full swing, a fundamental shift is redefining the “adventure” in adventure travel. Moving beyond the passive observation of traditional safaris, a new generation of travellers is choosing conservation travel: a model where travellers swap binoculars for data sheets and camera traps.

In an era where biodiversity loss is increasingly linked to multi-faceted global threats, ethical wildlife volunteering has emerged as the most meaningful way to explore the planet. Leading this evolution since 1999 is Biosphere Expeditions, a non-profit organisation whose “citizen science” model has become the industry gold standard for transparency, scientific rigour, and ethical integrity.

Divers on a reef
Citizen scientists surveying a reef
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