|
< Back to Ways To Teach Leave No Trace Training Techniques - Travel and Camp on Durable Ground The following techniques focus on identifying durable surfaces, campsite selection and decision making processes for travelling and camping.
Dirty Hands
Objective: To learn through direct experience or the sense of touch.
Materials: Blindfolds and an area with a range of different surfaces.
Audience: Any age.
Duration: 10 to 15 min.
Directions:
Everybody partner up. One person in each group either closes their eyes or puts a blindfold on. The person, who has their eyes open, leads the other person to different types of surfaces - mud, gravel, water, tree roots, dead leaves etc. The person in the blindfold is to feel each surface to figure out what it is. . When both people of each group have had a go gather everyone together and ask them what surfaces they found. Then ask what do they think would be best to walk on? What would last the longest, flowers or hard mud? With an older group you can bring this discussion on by relating it to their own experiences.
Duck Duck Goose
Objective: To show the sudden impact that initial use on a pristine area can have.
Materials: An area with long grass.
Audience: Any age.
Duration: 30 min.
Direction:
As you enter the grassy area, bring to peoples attention - how it looks, is it pristine or has it been well used, and how can you tell? Sit everyone in a large circle among the long grass, begin to play the game ‘Duck Duck Goose’. The first person stands up and walks around the circle tapping each person on the head saying duck, duck, duck, duck, until they reach the person that they wish to choose, then they say goose, and that person has to quickly jump up and chase them around the circle to try and catch them before they reach the goose’s empty space and sit down. If the person is caught they have to remain standing, if not it is the other persons turn. Play the game 3 or 4 times. Be aware of why you’re playing the game so you can keep an eye on the grass circle and decide when you think it is flat enough to stop. Now ask everyone to stand up and take a look at their circle. Discuss the impact and ask people do they think that this will recover and how long will it take. What would have been an alternative surface for this game?
Surface Visualisation
Objective: To introduce and show participants why we should travel on durable surfaces.
Materials: None.
Audience: Master Educators and Trainers
Duration: 15 to 30 min.
Directions:
Get the group to sit or lie down and get them to imagine:
• They are on a beautiful mountain side.
• They are on their own.
• The sun is shining.
• You can hear the various insects and birds buzzing around.
Ask the participants the following questions:
• How do you feel?
• What things can you see?
• How do your surroundings look?
Now the group should imagine the following:
• Two years later in the same area.
• It has became a busy spot.
• People have started to walk wherever they want in the area.
• Some have started to camp, in many different spots.
Now ask the group the following questions:
• Now how do you feel?
• What can you see?
• What has happened to the area?
• Why has it happened?
Ask everyone to sit up, then lead a group discussion on why we need to be walking on durable surfaces:
• Minimise impact on an area.
• Help to preserve the area for future generations.
• Some vegetation is only found in certain areas and so must be protected.
• Can take a long time for vegetation or other surfaces to recover, if at all.
Below are suggestions for further discussion:
How durable are the following surfaces?
Rock, sand and gravel: Highly durable, but lichens that grow on rocks are vulnerable to repeated scuffing.
Ice and snow: The effect of travel across these surfaces is temporary, making them good choices for travel.
Vegetation: The resistance of vegetation to trampling varies.
As a general rule, travellers who must venture off-trail should spread out to avoid creating paths that encourage others to follow. Avoid vegetation whenever possible, especially on steep slopes where the effects of off-trail are magnified.
How does damage occur to surfaces?
• Travel damage occurs when surface vegetation or communities of organisms are trampled beyond recovery.
• The resulting barren area leads to soil erosion and the development of undesirable tracks.
How can we protect them:
• Creating good tracks that should be followed.
• Tracks have an impact on the land, but one good track is better than lots of little tracks.
CONCLUSION
Tell participants to lie or sit down and imagine the following:
• It is their original area they imagined.
• It has been heavily walked.
• Measures have been taken to protect the area.
• How is it different from the time you imagined it after people had walked on it?
Surfaces 1-5
Objective: To get people to practice assessing the durability of different surfaces in their area.
Materials: A copy of a table (2 rows x 5 columns) on a sheet for each person taking part.
Audience: 12yrs and over. Useful for awareness sessions.
Duration: 5 min and over.
Directions:
Simply give out the sheet and allow people to wander around the area, see how many different surfaces they can find. You will be crossing over a number of different surfaces (grass, mud, tarmac). Grade them 1 – 5 in order of durability (5 being the most durable and hard wearing).
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
True or False
Objective: To engage people in debate about durable surfaces.
Materials: List of statements (see below).
Audience: Any age, best used as a wrap up activity for assessing durable ground.
Directions:
The following is a true and false quiz. Split groups up into teams and have them compete against each other to answer the questions. Allow debate to spring from the questions.
• A durable surface is ground that will not be easily damaged by lots of people using it. TRUE
• When camping the best place to pitch a tent is on a riverbank surrounded by spring flowers. FALSE
• In the countryside, or in the hills, you should keep to the small track already created. TRUE
• You find a nice flat spot to camp, but there are some branches right in the middle. If you remove any of these branches you should return them back to where you find them when you are finished camping at the site. TRUE
• Stone, sand and bog are all durable surfaces. TRUE
• 10 paces is the recommended distance to go to the toilet from a path or river. FALSE
• It is alright to cut corners when following a winding track. FALSE
• When meeting horses on a track you should step off the track and allow the horses to pass by on the track. TRUE
• Where a track is provided you should always use it. TRUE
Campsite Selection
Objective: To discuss issues to be aware of when choosing a campsite.
Materials: None.
Audience: Any age. Groups of any size.
Duration: 15 to 30 min.
Directions:
This activity needs to be delivered outdoors, in an area with a range of different surfaces and possible campsites. Split your group into teams; ask half the teams to look for a great campsite that has a low impact on the countryside. Ask the other half of the teams to look for the worst impact areas they can find. You can arrange a time to meet back or signal for the groups to return. Go to each site that the different groups chose. Use the campsites as the basis for a discussion, why did they choose these places? How would they structure their camp here? Are they far enough away from water? Why is it a good or bad campsite?
The Perfect Campsite
Objective: To investigate what makes a great campsite
Materials: None.
Audience: Any age.
Duration: 15 to 20 mins.
Directions:
This is a good as a wrap up activity. Have everyone sit in a circle, either on the ground or on chairs. Ask everyone to close their eyes and relax. You would like them to dream up their idea of a perfect or dream campsite, they have been outside walking all day and its getting cool, their stomach is starting to become hungry and they are just waiting to find a perfect spot to stop for the night. Give everyone a minute to think about what would be there and how it would look. Ask everyone when they are ready to open their eyes, what their campsites were like and what elements make up the best campsite? Bring Leave No Trace into the conversation. Ask how they would use their campsite to keep it good for the next person.
Satellite Trails
Objective: To demonstrate how easily ‘satellite’ trails are created.
Materials: A meadow or grassy area works best for this activity.
Audience: All ages. Groups of any size.
Duration: 15 min.
Directions:
First have the group walk shoulder to shoulder across the area that you have picked. Have them turn around and look to see if a discernable trail has been formed. Then have the group walk single file through an area of meadow (approx 100 ft long), then have them turn around, and retrace their steps back to the start. Have them look back and see the impact that they have made. Follow this activity with a discussion of how to properly travel off-trail. Works well as an introduction to cumulative impacts.
Surface Hopscotch
Objective: To introduce the concept of durable surfaces.
Materials: 30 Large A4/A3 pictures of different surfaces durable and non durable.
Audience: 8yrs and over.
Duration: 10 to 15 mins.
Directions:
Lay out the pictures of the surfaces face up, 3 or 4 across and 10 down. Each person has to make it from one end of the hopscotch game to the other, without stepping on any sensitive surfaces, on the other side of the card you can mark it whether its durable or sensitive. As each person is trying, everyone else can watch and if someone thinks that a sensitive surface has been stood on, they can shout out, stop! And the card is checked, if it is sensitive, they must go back to the start, if it is durable they can continue to the end. If you have a large group, shuffle the surfaces around so people can’t take the same route each time.
|
To join the Leave No Trace Ireland E-Newsletter, enter your email address below and submit.
|
