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[av_heading heading=’DALMING | The hiking hype and our forests’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ROMA GONZALES
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017
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MAN LITERALLY stepped out of the forest. That general sense of serenity when we walk in the woods is probably some type of genetic regression, that though we have discovered fire and evolved to build skyscrapers in the valleys, something primeval inside us remembers that the Earth is our mother, and that the mountain is her womb and the woods is her embrace.
It’s not difficult to comprehend how mountaineering and hiking has become relatively popular all of a sudden. Apart from that sense of peace, guides, itineraries and gears have become more accessible. With the pull of social media, it’s easy to be coaxed into trying out new places and hobbies. More people lean towards a healthy lifestyle and find the outdoors to be their preferred gym. Then there’s a chance of running into Angel Locsin or some interesting photoshoot session along the trail (we can laugh it off now, right?).
This March 21, officially declared as the International Day of Forests by the UN General Assembly since 2012, it seems befitting to reflect on how this trend, whether it is here to stay or not, can affect our natural environment.
Personally, I know of some, myself included, who are anxious and apprehensive with the mass entry of tourists into our woodlands and mountains. While we are no great conservationists and our attempts at environmental advocacy are sometimes flawed to the point of hypocrisy (we’ll try harder!), we have seen how trails have become littered with plastic that will most probably outlive the ignorant trekkers who left them, and how hillsides are cleared to fit the nearsighted desires of humans.
Hush. It’s tempting to say, “Let’s just keep this mountain and that waterfall to ourselves.”
But then again, how did we start but as clueless beginners? Even the fiercest crusaders were but simple humans who walked into something profound in the wild and have never been the same since.
The truly experienced and environmentally sensitive fidget restlessly when “noobs” and “pabebes” take to the trails oblivious to the fact that the plant they just snapped in half and the snake they beat were the real ‘homeowners’ of the place, and they were nothing but passing discourteous tourists.
It is undeniable that there a lot who are more conscious of their selfies than with how, let’s say, the woods is responsible for 45 percent of the current global renewable energy supply or that 900 million people worldwide are dependent on forests to live (based on the UN website). When we enter the wild and fail to redirect our attention to the grandeur of Nature from our egos and selfish desires, then we should really invest in Mars exploration because this behavior is a basis for the deduction that Earth may not be around for very long.
However, just as much as there is cause for anxiety, there is also reason to hope. When more people get to experience and witness the beauty and positive effect of our landscapes (and other natural resources), more people will stand up for their protection and conservation. The popularity of certain natural places may bring into the table discussions of new laws and better policies. Illegal loggers, for example, are intimidated away when mountaineers ‘patrol’ certain regions of a mountain.
Still, the positive side cannot possibly win over the negative all on its own. This momentum of rediscovering our affinity to Nature should be guided with as much energy as we can towards sustainability, protection and conservation. Local government units should undertake their own initiatives to protect their natural resources. They can bring economic opportunities to their people without compromising other species or this water source or that grove of trees. Based on experience, one way to really achieve this is to train our local tour guides in partnership with outdoor groups to educate hikers, especially the new ones, on mountaineering principles and ethics. The locals, though they inherited these wild places from their ancestors, need to be updated with the impact of human activities in the global scale. Many of them mean well, but are just simply unaware. Everyone should be encouraged to take ‘basic mountaineering courses’ and to take the principles seriously.
Decision-making should also be hopefully long-term. For instance, having off-seasons or limits in the entry of tourists may seem like more work and less income, or that training our tour guides and educating our locals mean additional expense, but these can also mean that our century-old trees will still stand for another hundred years and that mountain will be just as beautiful at the time of our successors as it is now.
Mountaineering teaches us to “Leave nothing footprints. Take nothing but pictures. Kill nothing but time. (And sometimes with the addition of ‘Burn nothing but calories’).” When we really put that into practice, we can be more hopeful that our mountains and woods will still be around in the next few centuries and that every new climber will become their sentinel. And that hope of running into Angel Locsin? It stays alive./PN
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