Tracks
Walking has been around for as long as man has walked the earth. Nowadays, when we only need to walk for the normal practising of our everyday activities, we increasingly resume a close contact with nature and with people we have lost touch with. A good walk serves as an ideal space for socialisation and meeting old friends.
The everyday walk we call trekking is the natural sport with the largest number of participants, maybe because there is no need for specific equipment nor of any particular physical fitness and it can be practised anywhere. These characteristics make it a popular, low impact exercise whenever there is some sensitivity and sense of responsibility.
Going for a long or short walk is perfectly compatible with a series of other activities related with the physical milieu we have chosen: photography, drawing or painting, writing, the observation of fauna and flora, map-making, the research of historical data, archaeology, ethnography etc. The interpretative or thematic tracks derive from this combination.
As with everything in life, massification may leave negative, irreversible marks in more sensitive areas, in particular, at certain times of the year. In terms of the soil, there is a compaction of the upper organic horizon, reducing porousness and consequently the infiltration of water and soil fertility. There are also erosive phenomena with the proliferation of tracks parallel to the original. In damp soils, meadows and lakes the impact is even greater. As far as vegetation is concerned, the transit of people crushes more sensitive small plants and fosters the appearance of other more resistant ones, almost always invasive. Through compaction of the soil the vegetation has less water, oxygen and nutrients. As regards fauna, human intervention means that more sensitive species change place, looking for new, different habitats, impacting their reproduction, physiology, habits and behaviour. Another negative impact is the stress caused by observation activities.
The lack of awareness may also lead to a failure to respect the ways of life of populations, animals and private property.
But we know that there are corrective and preventive measures we should adopt:
- Always stick to the paths and tracks. Shortcuts take longer and make the environment worse;
- Walk without making any noise, picking plants or pursuing animals;
- Respect the signposting of protection services vis-à-vis nature and/or of local communities, where applicable;
- Always pick up any refuse and take it to the nearest container;
- Avoid walking through steep areas as these are much more vulnerable to erosion;
- Respect private property, always closing any turnstiles we may find on our way.
If we act properly nature will continue to show its generosity to future generations.
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