Rangers say picking up a walking stick during a bush walk may seem harmless but it's causing significant damage to the environment.

When hiking through a national park, it may seem harmless to pick up a stick from the bush and use it as a type of walking aid.

“The sticks are used by the little creatures [and plants] of the national park, the echidnas burrowing underneath it … insects, lizards, birds, fungi and moss.”

“The removal of just one stick can impact these animals in lots of different ways.”

He said 75,000 people visit the national park every year and hikers picking up sticks as walking aids can become an “ecological nightmare” when done in volume.

“Every stick will either be habitat or food for organisms.”

“I think a lot of people might just be thinking ‘it’s just one stick’, but they don’t see the sheer number of sticks that we are picking up and having to redistribute and put back into the bush.”

  • Lintson@aussie.zone
    191·
    1 year ago

    Rangers: “don’t move sticks! It’s a habitat”

    Also Rangers: cuts an entire tree into logs because its blocking view of a shitty lake from a viewing platform.

  • tau@aussie.zoneEnglish
    13·
    1 year ago

    Seems like people should stop spending effort on finding a good walking stick mid walk and instead just look around at the start of the track for one that was good enough for someone else to bring all the way back…

  • ElGosso [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    111·
    1 year ago

    Other reasons:

    • you might accidently grab a snake that’s lying very still
    • the stick might have some poop on it (yuck!)
    • the park rangers called dibs
  • 𝚝𝚛𝚔@aussie.zoneEnglish
    127·
    1 year ago

    Why can’t people just enjoy by observing, instead of having to interfere with things?

    Like those idiots who stack rocks. It’s not clever, it’s not zen, it’s just a bit of vandalism.

    It’s not tipping out a drum of oil or spray painting a cliff face or anything, but why do you need to have a physical impact? Just leave shit alone.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    “Visitors might think, ‘it’s only one stick’, but it can have a very large, accumulated effect over time,” Carnarvon national park ranger in charge Lindie Pasma said.

    Ms Pasma said rangers had noticed a rise in the number of sticks being left at walking track exits matching an increase in visitation over winter.

    Simon Ling is the co-owner of Australian Nature Guides and has been taking visitors through the Carnarvon National Park on tours for 20 years.

    He said 75,000 people visit the national park every year and hikers picking up sticks as walking aids can become an “ecological nightmare” when done in volume.

    "The key message to get across is that old adage, ‘you’re not supposed to take anything but photographs and leave nothing but footprints’ and if you stick to that principle you’re pretty well right.

    Ms Pasma said it was great to see so many people visiting the national park, but urged them to do their research about the trails and whether they would need specialised hiking poles.

    The original article contains 436 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 62%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    It’s fine if you’re in the high country where there are only a few visitors every week. But most backpackers have started using trekking poles anyways. I was really opposed to them, thinking they were just more shit for gear heads to spend money on, but they’re actually really great. Get yourself a pair of quality trekking poles, or a single monopole, and you’ll never need to find a hiking stick again.

  • austin@aussie.zoneEnglish
    36·
    1 year ago

    Why do you need a stick? You aren’t 78 years old I just free run trails.