WHAT IS LEAVE NO TRACE?

Leave No Trace is an Outdoor Ethics Education Programme designed to promote and inspire responsible outdoor recreation. The idea is simple – leave the places you enjoy as good or better than you found them.

Leave No Trace programmes teach both skills and ethics and encourage good decision-making. Developing ethics in the outdoors involves behaving responsibly, even if doing so is difficult or inconvenient. An ethic can be defined as knowing what the right thing to do is, and doing it, even if there is no one around to see you do it.

WHERE IS LEAVE NO TRACE?

Leave No Trace is the largest outdoor ethics programme in the world.

Originating in the USA with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, today there are four franchises including Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Globally the programme is in over 90 countries.

In September 2008, ‘Leave No Trace Ireland’ was officially launched in Ireland. Today, the offices are based in Westport, Co. Mayo

World Map - Ireland, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia.

The Seven Principles of Leave No Trace provide an easily understood framework of minimum impact practices for anyone visiting the outdoors. Although Leave No Trace has its roots in the countryside, the Principles have been adapted so that they can be applied anywhere — from remote areas to local parks and even in your own neighbourhood. Aspects of the Leave No Trace Principles can be applied to every recreational activity.

Today, over 90% of recreation takes place in areas that are easy to access and mostly visited by day-users. Leave No Trace Ireland has adapted the Principles to be relevant in environments closer to home, such as parks, urban areas, nature reserves, lakeshores and river banks across the Irish countryside.

Leave No Trace Ireland

In the 1990s no national country code existed in the Republic of Ireland, although a plethora of codes from various organisations had been developed. Comhairle na Tuaithe, the Countryside Council, was set up in February 2004 to look at the following issues:

• access to the countryside
• developing a countryside code
• developing a countryside recreation strategy.

Comhairle na Tuaithe identified and agreed a set of operational rules for access to the countryside to help prevent conflict and serve a variety of needs and responsibilities. It was decided that the use of the internationally recognised Leave No Trace initiative was the best method to develop the features necessary for a countryside code in Ireland.

In 2006, it was agreed that the Leave No Trace message was the most relevant to the Irish context. Leave No Trace differs from all existing country codes in that it is an ‘education programme’ that constantly puts the message and skills before outdoor users. Leave No Trace concepts can be applied in Ireland’s uplands and lowlands, in urban parks, on lakes and rivers or in local neighbourhoods.

Evidence Based Programmes

Leave No Trace Ireland co-ordinates a continuous stream of research, to provide relevant and up-to-date social and environmental knowledge to underpin the Leave No Trace message in Ireland. Leave No Trace Ireland currently have Ph.D. and Master research programmes. For further information on Leave No Trace Ireland research follow the link below.

https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/resources/irish-publications/

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics USA funds, designs and undertakes research to inform new and effective ways to educate people about protecting our shared public lands.
To find out more about the international research conducted by The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethic please visit https://lnt.org/research-resources/

Why is Leave No Trace Needed?

9 out of 10 people who visit the outdoors are not informed about Leave No Trace and minimising their impacts. Leave No Trace training is helping to instil an outdoor ethic in all those who enjoy spending time outside.

The increased use of our natural resources adds pressure, not only to our natural world but also to landowners and custodians of the land. An increase in human impact can result in new or tighter regulations being imposed, or in some cases, conflicts between recreational users and those charged to manage or work the land. A widespread awareness of Leave No Trace will go a long way in protecting these natural places and maintaining goodwill towards visitors and those enjoying the outdoors for recreation.

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” - Sir David Attenborough 2020

Let us aim to educate ourselves and adapt the skills and ethics that enable us to leave no trace.

Would you believe…

LEAVE NO TRACE: TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT THE OUTDOORS

If you are eager to learn how you can responsibly enjoy the outdoors, you are in the right place!

At Leave No Trace Ireland, we inspire responsible behaviour with our simple framework of minimum impact practices when spending time outdoors.

VISITOR CREATED IMPACTS

When spending time outdoors, human impacts on the environment generally fit into the following seven areas:

Hover over each image below to learn more (if you are on mobile tap on the images).

THE LEAVE NO TRACE SEVEN PRINCIPLES

The Leave No Trace Seven Principles provide a framework of minimum impact practices for spending time in the outdoors. Each principle covers a specific topic and provides detailed information for minimising impact.

These Principles are well established and grounded in research. This helps us keep information dynamic and relevant for today’s outdoor user. Our tailored environmental educational programmes for the public, schools, communities, and corporate businesses are underpinned by evidence-based research, that encompasses multiple facets of outdoor activities and environments targeting long-term behavioural change.

Principle #1: Plan Ahead and Prepare

Principle #2: Be Considerate of Others

Principle #3: Respect farm animals and Wildlife

Principle #4: Travel and Camp on Durable Ground

Principle #5: Leave What You Find

Principle #6: Dispose of Waste Properly

Principle #7: Minimise the effects of fire

EDUCATION, NOT REGULATION

With the Seven Principles as the foundation, our education programmes and strategic initiatives promote responsible enjoyment and stewardship of the outdoors to everyone who enjoys spending time outside.

We use training and education to support the Leave No Trace mission and ensure that all outdoor enthusiasts have the skills to leave places as good, or better, than they found them. By using education instead of regulation, we can help protect the outdoors without impeding on the enjoyment or freedom of our fellow outdoor enthusiasts.

Leave No Trace believes that while the impacts are widespread and the causes are complex, the solution is simple: Change behaviour through education, research and partnerships one person at a time. Leave No Trace is not a set of rules or regulations. Rather, it is first and foremost an attitude and an ethic.

Leave No Trace is about respecting and caring for wildlands, doing your part to protect our limited resources and future recreation opportunities. Once this attitude is adopted and the outdoor ethic is sound, the specific skills and techniques become second nature.

GET INVOLVED

You can get involved with Leave No Trace in a number of ways!

Adopt the Principles: Start to incorporate some of the techniques mentioned on this course when out and about in the countryside.

Training: Participate in Leave No Trace Training. Leave No Trace is based on a tiered education programme, with three levels of training. For more information on our training programme, visit https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/education/training-structure/

Join: Join our strong, active, and engaged social media community by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Support: By becoming a member of Leave No Trace Ireland, you are not only supporting the Leave No Trace programme but are actively contributing to the protection of Ireland’s shared outdoor spaces. For more info: https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/membership-account/membership-levels/

Take the Leave No Trace Pledge!

Now that you’ve learned about the foundations of Leave No Trace, you are ready to make a difference. From your back garden to the great outdoors, will you pledge to be part of the solution to protect the environment?

Check all the ways that you will commit to the Leave No Trace movement:

I promise while I am outdoors in Ireland I will: