A Cultural Landscape Emerges: Analyzing the Evolution of Two Historic North Pole Expedition Bases in Virgohamna, Svalbard, from Trash to a Protected Cultural Heritage Site

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

the work is well described and interesting. It could be useful to insert a geomorphological description of the area surrounding the study sites in order to frame it in a physical-environmental context.

Furthermore, in figure 4 it would be advisable to insert a geographical grid with coordinates

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript is a marvelous piece of scientific literature that takes us from the expeditions to the North Pole, to the decay of their remains, the evolution of a policy framework to preserve them, and finally, explores the role of tourism in wearing and safeguarding the cultural site of Virgohamna. It well-written and a paper of high interest to the scientific community.

There is some room for improvement in some sections: the title, the abstract, a better description of the data collection and analysis methods, the arrangement of the figures, consistency throughout the document, and the restructuring of the conclusions to give answer to the four key areas (research questions).

The quality of English language is appropriate, there are some typos and misspelling of Andrée's and Wellman's names throughout the manuscript.

Please find below and attached a thorough (line by line) review:

1-3. I suggest to rethink the title. Catchy as it is, it does not mention the site, the cultural and scientific value of preserving the remains of the expeditions to the North Pole. Moreover, it does not denote the power this wonderful manuscript.

11. I understand the statement, however, it does not justify the relevance of the study. Please elaborate.

13. Wellman

16-17. Please elaborate on the methods for data collection and analysis.

20. This statement is vague.

39. Salomon August Andrée (please include full name the first time they are mentioned).

41. Walter Wellman (include full name the first time they are mentioned).

53-55. Excellent! This is a valuable contribution.

59. Wellman

61. Andrée and Wellman. Please corroborate the correct spelling throughout the document, the author sometimes spells them without the acute accent, and with two n. I highlighted in the document every time I found them misspelled.

63. Reiterative with line 61.

83-85. Remove "e.g." from references.

103-105. Thank you, this is indeed necessary.

119. Wellman

120. Wellman's

124. Wellman

127, 133, 136, 139. Please use sentence case for the four key areas instead of capitalizing each word.

135. site

143-150. This paragraph should be followed by a description of the structure of the paper.

152. I suggest to link the research questions with the data collection and analysis methods. This will help the reader understand what was the question the field observations, or the interviews with key stakeholders were trying to give answer to.

154. Personal diaries from whom?

190. Figures (plural form)

201. Please make sure the captions are located under the correct figure. The caption of Figure 2 describes a pictures, when it displays a map corresponding to Figure 1.

220. Figure 4 must be improved. The graphic scale on the upper left is cropped. The legend should be integrated into the figure (instead of lines 213-218). Remove the word "Legend" and remove "The colored area indicates"; thus green should be "Protected area", and yellow "100-meter buffer zone outside of the protected area".

250. Pike's

254. Andrée and Wellman

257. Figure 4 should be located under its description.

261. I suggest removing "Mr."

268. Figures (plural)

271. Pike's, Andrée's

275. Pike's

280. This was already mentioned (line 186).

295. Figure 7 should appear after the description.

304. Pike's

313. Wellman

348. Please see comment on the relation of the research questions with the methods for data collection and data analysis.

431. Andrée's

433. Wellman's

597. Please include some information about the number and type of visitors per year/season vs the capacity of the site and its management. This may help the reader understand the impact of (intensive) tourism and (eventual) limited resources and capacities.

671. Remove "it is well known that".

696. Please use MDPI's reference style.

698. His

711. I understand that these expeditions in the beginning of the 20th Century were led and carried out by men. However, I would like to suggest to  rephrase this sentence to promote the use inclusive language. e.g. Using "person" instead of "man".

712. Remove period after "cabin". Remove "e.g." from references.

724-732. Repetition of 697-706.

734. Comma after Virgohamna

735. decayed

748. Pike's

755. on

756. ovens

774-779. The author names the figures that visited the site differently: either using their full names, initials and last name, or only last name. I suggest to pick one form and be consistent.

781. Andrée and Wellman

848. Remove exclamation mark.

871. The cultural value described by the author does not differ much of the historical and scientific values. Could this be expanded to include tourism and research? Are there any other cultural activities in the area that should be safeguarded and linked to the expeditions site?

875. I suggest to expand and include the environmental (flora, fauna, glaciers, landscape) into the scientific value.

Table 1. Please begin with capital letters.

930. Please include a table to show the number of people, for the readers to see these variations.

990. Could the author provide a description of the background of the guides? Where are they based? How are they trained? Do they (need to) have a license to conduct tourism activities? What do the regulations say about this? Who should be held accountable for the guides mishandling the heritage site? Who is managing the site?

1027. This is an opportunity to explore the resources that Norwegian authorities have made available for the conservation and restoration of the site.

1088. I suggest the author to include Wellman's story in these remarks. Suddenly, the cultural environment of Virgohamna is focused solely on Andrée's expedition.

1094-1095. This statement is powerful. Tourism revenue could also play a role in the preservation of the site.

1122. Please structure the conclusion highlighting and numbering each of the four key areas (in bold, separate paragraphs) to give answer to the research questions (also, some readers may not have access to the introduction). That is:
1. Policy documents and legal framework. The overarching political framework (...).
2. Physical transformations of the region. (...)
3. Narratives and cultural heritage value. (...)
4. Impact of tourism. (...)

The quality of English language is appropriate, there are some typos and misspelling of Andrée's and Wellman's names throughout the manuscript.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf