The conscientious hiker

As we explore our islands’ natural spaces, Anjani Ganase poses a challenge to all explorers, groups and families, and individuals who hike.

When visiting natural spaces, it is essential to understand that we are visiting the homes of wildlife, the plants, animals, insects and microbial communities that occur in a stable cohesion. Furthermore, natural spaces are beneficial to us through the provision of healthy food resources and waterways, as well as benefits to our mental and physical health. Therefore, caring for natural spaces means minimising the presence of human influence and impact as much as possible.

This sounds simple enough, yet there are many ways in which we unknowingly leave our mark.

Hiking and trekking have become increasingly popular in Trinidad and Tobago, especially after the covid pandemic, which encouraged citizens to explore and appreciate their native beauty.

However, with the growing popularity, we must consciously monitor any degradation or changes to the visited environment.

Here are some tips for being a more conscientious hiker:

Leave it as you found it

The top three items we commonly find on hikes are plastic water bottles, snack wrappers, and busted shoes/ slippers left along the trail, on riverbeds and near waterfalls, ready to be flushed downstream into the ocean.

Discussion on suitable footwear, the use of reusable water bottles and waste disposal is needed before every hike.

Avoid dumping juices, alcohol and soft drinks, crumbs and snacks. Take all remnants of food and drink back with you. Liquids pollute the streams, and food scraps may not decay as fast as you may think. An orange peel, for example, can take months to years to break down. The issue is not one peel but the pile-up of unsightly and smelly waste heaps that attract animals and make them ill.

To navigate through the forest, gear such as spray paint or flagging tape are often used to identify the path, while ropes are used to assist in climbing up steep slopes or wading across deep pools. These are certainly helpful to the hiker, especially on more intense routes.

Gear left behind can pile up and degrade. The hiking community must consciously reduce the amount of abandoned gear in the forest. Avoid excessive flagging tape and paint, and if possible, think about removing as much as you can at the end of your hikes.

Think about the unintended impact of the placement of ropes: for example, the potential entanglement and entrapment of plants and animals. Remember these spaces are primarily used by birds, small mammals, rodents, insects, and can be hazardous in the night and under high flow conditions.

The use of technology such as hand-held GPS and a map-sharing platform can compensate. Co-ordinate markers among the hiking groups.

Do not brand nature

Apart from damaging tree trunks and scraping the rocks of layers of algae and microbes with affirmations of love, names and dates, one man’s art may be unsightly to another. It is bad for nature and ruins it for everyone else. Take photos instead.

Cases of well-intentioned but misguided branding of spaces include advertisements for hiking tours, and signage left after cleaning up.

Irony aside, the signage will only add to the garbage in the area or get washed down to the rivers to become waste along the coast and in the ocean.

Instead, pose with your group and your sign, create a social media banner to highlight your presence virtually and leave the space as you found it.

Keep hiking groups small and stick to the path

Believe it or not, leaving footprints can also be harmful, depending on the level of traffic and the sensitivity of the habitat, for instance the delicate and dynamic habitats of riverbeds. Constant walking on the soil results in compaction and destroys the delicate soil matrix utilised by insects, pollinators and other invertebrates.

The extent of damage may not be obvious, but if you consider a seven-kilometre hike along a one-metre-wide path, that is 7,000 metres or roughly the size of a football field of trampled earth that dissects a natural space.

Where possible, limit group sizes to manageable numbers and co-ordinate between hiking groups to reduce the amount of acute stress on a natural space.

In many countries, national parks are created to manage the impact we have on nature. Within these parks, spatial planning divides the area into zones of regulated use and conservation, while other areas are protected for ecological sensitivity and value. National parks often do assessments to determine the visitor-carrying capacity of an ecosystem, which is the maximum number of visitors within a given space and time without causing the destruction of the ecology or minimising the socio-economic benefits.

Be quiet

Noise pollution is a major issue and can disrupt important wildlife behaviours. Bird calls are often drowned by music and even loud talking.

This is already a major issue with the advent of fetes in natural spaces.

The extreme light and noise pollution are harmful to the wildlife, especially nocturnal animals – bats, owls, oil birds, insects – that rely on acute senses to hunt or forage in the dark at night.

The same goes for hiking. Use the time to absorb the serenity that nature provides, or even try to identify sounds and locate their origins. Over the years, seasoned hikers are able to identify leks for courting birds, and residential trees for birds such as the bearded bell bird.

Go with a local guide

Where possible, use a local guide who knows the area. Many hikes start in the heart of rural communities that depend and spend time in these natural spaces. The respect and knowledge of the land will be passed on.

Be mindful of private properties and respect the land of farmers.

Where possible use the designated spaces for parking, and avoid blocking driveways or inconveniencing traffic by narrowing roads.

Be respectful and give back where possible.

Do not carry a pest

Good hiking etiquette means thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting your equipment between hiking trips, especially if you went hiking abroad. Be mindful that you may be tracking invasive seeds, bacteria and viruses across habitats. Island ecosystems are sensitive and what you transport even unknowingly can be detrimental to the local wildlife.

The hiker’s first challenge is this: let us leave a natural space so that no one can prove that you were there. No footprints, no tracks, no evidence of your passing: that is the ultimate achievement of the conscientious hiker.

This rule must apply whatever the ages of the hikers, and also if you bring dogs with your group.