#101 Protecting our environment

Traffic on mountain trails has exploded in recent years. This phenomenon, amplified by the lockdown periods, makes it essential for every participant to take responsibility. The mountains are a wild and fragile environment. The cumulative impact of millions of annual passages on an ecosystem demands that everyone actively reduce their footprint in order to keep practicing there. An ecosystem is a whole formed by living beings (biocenosis) interacting with their environment (biotope). These components maintain a dense network of dependencies. Human presence affects this entire network.

Protecting the biotope

Water

Water gets contaminated easily, often without direct contact. Relieving yourself too close to a stream can be enough to pollute it over the long term. Good practice consists of moving away from water sources before any activity likely to contaminate the environment:

Do not throw anything into streams, including leftover drinking water.
Wash yourself and brush your teeth away from the water, dispersing the waste water on the ground.
Do the dishes at a distance from the water, collecting food residue beforehand.
Do not bathe directly in a stream: draw water with a container and wash yourself away from it.
Relieve yourself as far as possible from water sources and high enough up that rising water cannot reach the spot.

Protecting water also means limiting waste: only draw what you need.

Land

Impact on the ground is reduced through a minimal-footprint strategy:

Camp only on dedicated areas or on hard, less fragile surfaces.
Follow marked paths, do not cut switchbacks, do not create new passages.
Leave no waste behind.
Do not take rocks, plants or mosses as souvenirs.
Do not make fires.

Air

Direct impact on the air during an outing is negligible. Most of the atmospheric footprint comes from transport. Good practices are:

Reduce car journeys.
Favor carpooling or public transport.
Calculate and offset your carbon footprint.
Adopt a minimalist approach (less gear, fewer purchases).

Protecting the biocenosis

Protecting the biotope indirectly protects flora and fauna. The complementary habits aim to avoid altering the behavior of wild animals:

Do not feed wild animals. In certain areas (bear country in particular), store food in airtight canisters or hang it up high.
Do not touch or disturb animals.
Do not bring pets.
Avoid loud sounds (shouting, music on speakers).
Do not light up large areas at night.
Keep your distance from animals and do not destroy their shelters, nests or burrows.

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace is an American reference framework that simplifies environmental protection into seven principles:

Plan ahead and prepare: anticipate resource needs, limit packaging, identify bivouac areas in advance.
Travel and camp on durable surfaces: use existing paths, camp on dead surfaces.
Dispose of waste properly: pack everything out, including organic waste. Handle calls of nature discreetly and respect the minimum distances from water.
Leave what you find: do not take leaves, stones or animals; do not leave marks (tags, carvings, etc.).
Minimize campfire impact: do not make fires outside areas designated for that purpose.
Respect wildlife: observe without disturbing.
Be considerate of other visitors: preserve their mountain experience by minimizing noise and visual disturbance.

More information on the official website: Leave No Trace.

Global warming

The planet naturally goes through climate cycles over millennia. Current global warming refers to a sudden, rapid rise in global temperature directly linked to human activities. This phenomenon is documented, measured and modeled by the scientific community. To limit warming to 1.5 °C, global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by half by 2030 and carbon neutrality reached by 2050. Even in this scenario, the effects already set in motion will be felt for the next two decades. Mountain athletes are both witnesses to and actors in these transformations: retreating glaciers, reduced snow cover, increased slope instability. Acting outside the mountains is as important as acting in the mountains:

Assess your annual carbon footprint and identify the most significant areas for reduction.
Reduce your consumption and your emissions. Every action counts.
Get involved at the local, national and political level. Consumption choices are already a form of commitment.