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Minimal Impact - Summary

In the Langdale Valley Credit: Cumbria Tourist Board/Tony West Looking across Snowdonia Credit: Snowdonia NPA On Liathach in the Scottish Highlands Credit: David Monteith Stepping out on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail

 Minimal Impact - click here to download a one page summary PDF of best practice for printing.

 MINIMAL IMPACT

The OIA guide to enjoying the outdoors responsibly:
As an umbrella attitude to the detail of good practice, bear in mind the watchwords 'respect, responsibility, consideration and care'.
  1. Check for any special restrictions or conditions affecting the area you plan to visit.
  2. A few people travelling together have far less impact than many so split up a large group if you can do safely.
  3. Walk or ride in single file along trails to minimise damage and avoid creating new parallel tracks. When faced with a muddy length of a track, stick to the middle as walking alongside makes the muddy section wider.
  4. Camp unobtrusively but place your tent on an existing pitch rather than starting a new one; do not clear vegetation and rocks to make a new pitch.
  5. Seek out hard or sandy surfaces for breaks and campsites rather than soft surfaces or vegetation. Avoid soft plants, muddy areas (unless a muddy track), stream banks and sand dunes. Just one boot or tyre print on many plants means they will take several years to recover from the damage - if ever.
  6. Camp cooking fires scar the landscape, cause destruction of habitats and can start wildfires. It is far better to carry and use a camping stove and your own fuel. If you do light a fire, keep it small, never damage trees and vegetation for fuel and remove all traces before moving on.
  7. Take all your rubbish away with you and collect any other litter you come across. Overall, there is less litter in the outdoors these days but in just one day on a popular route in the Lakes, North Wales or the Peak District, it's easy to collect plenty of packaging and cans left by other people's thoughtlessness.
  8. Keep chemical pollutants such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste and liquid fuel out of watercourses. If you have to use soap, wash at least 30m from a water source. Elbow grease and a little hot water is all that is needed to clean cooking pots.
  9. Take care of toilet needs at least 30m from water and 50m from paths. For solid waste, you'll need to dig a hole at least 15cm deep (the depth of a small trowel) and not just hide your waste under a stone or in the snow. Decomposition in soil occurs in a narrow band; shallower than this and faecal matter can be dug up by animals and if deeper it will be outside the band. Plain unscented toilet paper will break down eventually though 'biodegradable' versions will do so faster; thicker scented 'wet' tissue should be avoided.. Re-fill the hole, compact the soil and remember to wash your hands (waterless anti-bacterial soap is widely available these days). Do not pee anywhere near water sources and courses.
  10. Burying sanitary items means they will not decompose so you will need to carry them out.

And help others enjoy the outdoors for generations to come!