Leave no trace
Care for the Alps - Leave no trace
Australian Alps Liaison Committee, 2003
Plan ahead
Think before your trip about weather, equipment & safety.
Weather conditions in the mountains can change rapidly without warning - snow can fall at any time of the year.
Planning can make all the difference. Make sure you’ll be safe and comfortable throughout your trip by knowing where you are going, what you need to take and what you need to do:
- Let someone know before you go – always tell family or friends where you are going and when you will return
- Don’t travel alone but be aware that large groups have more impact on the environment and other visitors. Keep noise and group size to a minimum - four to eight people is ideal
- Plan to use pre existing campsites; and use huts only for emergency shelter
- Take the following items and know how to use them:
- wind and waterproof jacket, beanie and gloves
- hand trowel for burying toilet waste
- map and compass
- First aid kit
- fuel stove and fuel for cooking
- good quality tent and sleeping bag
- a GPS and EPIRB may be useful
Stay on track
Whether walking, riding or driving, follow all formed tracks, even if they are muddy or dusty
Please don't be tempted to cut corners or travel right on the edges. This makes the tracks wider and increases the impact on the bush. Shortcuts can cause erosion, especially on steep zigzag paths and eventually may confuse people as to which is the real path.
When there isn't a track, groups should spread out so that people don't walk in exactly the same places.
Many plants can survive being stepped on once, but are destroyed if trampled by several feet.
Better still, stay on rocks and hard ground wherever possible and avoid fragile vegetation, like sphagnum bogs, fens and wet heath.
Cyclists and horse riders should always check local park regulations.
Carry it in, carry it out
Whatever it is, don’t burn, bury or leave anything
Many kinds of rubbish can be created during a trip, like food scraps, empty cans and packets, used matches, plastic bread ties, sanitary pads, tampons, condoms, tissues, toilet paper and cigarette butts. So please be sure none of it ends up as litter.
Most rubbish does not decompose, even if it is buried or burnt.
Rubbish creates an ugly eyesore or washes into watercourses and pollutes them. Animals may also try to eat it and harm themselves.
Always carry rubbish bags and carry out everything – even be prepared to collect litter you see during your trip.
Got to ‘go’?
Use a toilet or take a walk - at least 100 paces from water and campsites. Dig 15cm deep and cover well
With so many people visiting the Alps - and the potential for spread of infectious diseases (such as giardia and hepatitis A) - the management of human waste is a serious issue.
If faeces, urine or toilet paper gets into the water supply, or are uncovered by animals, the results are very unsightly and potentially very dangerous for both people and animals.
Carelessness upstream could affect you downstream!
Where there are no toilets, please carry and use a trowel. Walk at least 100 paces (or as far as practicable) from creeks, lakes, campsites and tracks, dig a hole as deep as your trowel/hand (about 15 cm), then bury your waste and the toilet paper very carefully.
Collecting Water
Collect water upstream of huts, campsites and toilets to avoid possible pollution. Boil water for at least five minutes to avoid gastroenteritis and giardia.
Wash at least 100 metres from watercourses
Please take care when washing yourself or your belongings. Detergents, toothpaste and soap (even biodegradable ones) harm fish and water-life. Instead of washing in creeks or lakes use a container well away from the water. When finished, spread the washing water and food scraps away from creeks or lakes so that it can filter through the soil before returning to the stream. Some people use hot water, gritty sand and a scourer instead of soap to clean billies and dishes.
Use a fuel stove
Quicker and cleaner for you, better for the bush
Compared to campfires fuel stoves are much quicker and easier to use, especially in wet weather – and they don’t leave unsightly, long lasting scars. Collecting firewood disturbs and destroys the habitat of many of the Alps’ tiny plants and animals. In alpine areas where the growing season is very short, plants are very slow to recover.
Remember to place your stove or hot pots on hard surfaces, as plants can be easily damaged by the heat. Do not light fires above or near the tree line and check for:
- Local ‘fuel stove only’ areas and other fire restrictions,
- Total fire ban days (includes fuel stoves)
If you must have a fire use an existing fire place and keep it small. Always ensure it is out before you leave. Use water not soil to put out your fire and always check the coals are completely cold.
Escaped campfires have led to disastrous bushfires.
Respect heritage
Heritage places are a link to memories of people and the past
Within the Australian Alps there are many sites, places and landscapes with Aboriginal and historic cultural heritage value.
These may be Aboriginal rock paintings, scar trees, artefact scatters, axe grinding grooves and pathways; or historic huts, yards, mining equipment, arboreta and border markers.
Huts in particular, were often located in areas used as camp sites by Aboriginal people. Please do not souvenir any articles or artefacts and leave the hut environs undisturbed.
Leave no trace
Walk, drive, camp, ski, climb, paddle – whatever you do
Respect the traditional Aboriginal owners and their country as well as other visitors by aiming to leave the area as you found it.
No matter what kind of activities you enjoy in the Alps, you can minimise the impacts you have on the environment and other visitors by following the simple guidelines described here. Challenge yourself to leave as little trace of your visit as possible.
It's all about caring for the Alps now - then they'll be just as wonderful in the future.
More information
For more commonsense information to help you stay safe and protect the natural and cultural environment of the Australian alps see:
- Bushwalking code
- Car-based camping code
- Cycling code
- Horse riding code
- Huts code
- River users code
- Snow-camping code
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