The #LNT ethic could be summarised by a few simple principles:
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Plan and prepare for #LNT success before your adventure. Think about sustainable routes and accurate navigation, sustainable and/or established camp sites and resting spots, travel, and waste management. Poor preparation can lead to poor decisions and, when faced with unexpected events, poorly prepared people often resort to high-impact solutions.
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Use established trails, routes and camping sites. When you move away form established and maintained or semi-maintained routes, surfaces and vegetation can become damaged beyond repair which can lead to unstable and barren surfaces which have a negative impact on the ecology.
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Minimise and manage your waste responsibly. Find ways to carry less, particularly single-use and non-biodegradable items so as to minimise the amount of waste that you create and be sure to remove any and all waste material and matter; “what goes in must come out!”
- Avoid changing anything! Wherever possible, which, if you’ve planned properly, should be most of the time, avoid digging holes, chopping down trees, trimming branches, hammering in nails and building permanent or semi-permanent structures. In a similar vein, don’t remove natural items; every stone, every log, has it’s own role and usually plays home to a whole of host of organisms from fungi to frogs!
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If you’re have to use fire, be responsible. Wherever possible look for an alternative to having a fire; look at cold food or portable cooking systems for creating food, and warm clothing and heavier sleeping-bags instead of using a fire for heat. If you have to rely on fire, then learn how to properly create and control fire and remove all trace of its existence once it is no longer needed.
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Keep wildlife wild by not leaving feeding animals directly or by leaving ‘food litter’.
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Remove litter and other waste if you see it, even if it’s not yours, take ownership of the problem and lead my example.
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Be considerate to others by following ‘outdoor etiquette’ and the ‘countryside code’, following the principles above and minimising noise.
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Encourage everyone that you meet, children and adults, to adopt the principles and overall ethic of ‘Leave No Trace’.
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