More and more people enjoy spending weekends and holidays in the wilderness, but this also puts pressure on the natural environment.
LNT stands for Leave No Trace, meaning "no trace left in the wilderness." In the 1960s, outdoor activities surged in the United States, with a significant increase in the number of people participating in outdoor sports and camping. However, many lacked environmental awareness during these activities. By the 1970s, the impact and even damage caused by outdoor activities on natural and cultural resources had drawn the attention of relevant authorities. From then on, these authorities began collaborating with professionals and civil organizations to educate the public on environmental principles for outdoor activities. The LNT principles gradually took shape during this period. By 1994, the non-profit organization The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics was established to promote LNT principles globally, educating outdoor enthusiasts on how to protect the environment while enjoying the outdoors.Although the LNT principles were initially designed for hiking and mountaineering, the saying goes that cycling and hiking go hand in hand, and I believe these principles also apply to cycling. That’s a brief introduction to the history of the LNT principles. Now, here are the specific guidelines, with some additional insights from me to help with understanding.
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
This refers not only to your usual pre-trip preparations but also includes some environmental considerations.
Proper preparation ensures you can enjoy your time in the mountains without harming the local environment.
1. Research the regulations and special considerations/restrictions of the area you plan to visit. For example, if you’re crossing the Qiangtang uninhabited area, familiarize yourself with wildlife protection laws and know what activities are prohibited.2. Be prepared for extreme weather, dangers, and emergencies.
3. Plan your trip to avoid peak travel times. This helps minimize human impact on local ecosystems. A sudden surge in visitors can exceed the local environment’s capacity and disrupt ecological balance.
4. Travel in small groups. If you have a large group, split into teams of 4–6 people for the same reason.
5. Repack food to reduce waste. For example, take leftover chicken legs with you (just an example—I know you won’t have chicken legs outdoors anyway).
6. Use maps and compasses instead of marking trails with paint, stacked rocks, or signs to minimize environmental impact.
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Some may translate this as "solid ground," but I think "durable" or "resilient" surfaces is more accurate. Though it sounds odd, natural environments do "endure" human activity. To minimize impact, choose areas with the highest resilience and least potential for harm.
Popular areas usually already have established routes, so there’s no need to blaze new trails.
1. Durable surfaces include existing trails, campsites, rocks, gravel, dry grass, or snow—areas where walking, riding, or camping won’t harm the local ecology.2. Protect water sources by camping at least 200 feet (about 60 meters) away from lakes or streams.
3. A good campsite is found, not made. There’s no need to create new campsites, as each new one means destroying more grassland.
If you’re visiting a popular area:
a. Stick to existing trails and campsites to reduce vegetation damage. If everyone wanders off-trail, heavy foot or bike traffic can lead to large-scale bare ground.
b. Stay in single file along the center of existing paths, even if they’re wet or muddy, for the same reason.
c. Try to keep the campsite small and mainly use areas without vegetation, for the same reasons as above.
If you’re going to a less popular and undeveloped area:
a. Spread out to avoid creating new campsites or trails. For example, if you enter an undeveloped forested mountain area and team members continue to walk or cycle in a single file, it may result in a new trail being formed. However, if everyone walks or cycles a short horizontal distance apart, the local ecosystem can recover naturally within a relatively short period.
b. Avoid areas that have just begun to be impacted by human activity. For instance, if you find slight traces of previous passage, avoid following those paths. The reason is the same as above.
III. Dispose of Waste Properly
This is a very basic principle. Many domestic environmental protection campaigns also focus on waste disposal, yet many cyclists/hikers still overlook it during outdoor activities such as cycling or hiking.
2. Before doing your business, dig a small hole about 15–20 cm deep. The digging site should be at least 60 meters away from water sources, the campsite, and trails. Remember to fill the hole in afterward and cover it with camouflage to blend in with the surroundings. Well then, let that “deposit” return deeply to Mother Earth’s embrace and quietly “turn into spring mud to nurture flowers.”
3. Pack and take away personal hygiene products after use, such as toilet paper used after doing your business. It might sound a bit gross, but imagine the scene of your campsite surrounded by white toilet paper—it might make “packing it out” a little less gross.
4. When taking a shower or washing dishes, carry the water at least 60 meters away from the water source to do so. You can use a small amount of biodegradable soap/cleaner for washing. The water used for washing dishes should be strained of debris and dispersed—dumping it all in one place may cause a patch of vegetation to wither.
IV. Leave What You Find
Picking a beautiful wildflower to wear on your head; picking up a peculiar rock and putting it in your bag... These behaviors are not rare—in fact, they’ve become quite common—but as more and more people take part in outdoor activities, these seemingly trivial actions will eventually burden the environment.
Don’t pick the wildflowers by the roadside, and just look at cultural relics—don’t take them.
1. Keep things as they are: When encountering cultural heritage or historical artifacts, observe them carefully, but don’t touch them—look but don’t touch.2. Leave the rocks, vegetation, and other natural objects and creatures you find as you found them.
3. Don’t bring non-native species into or out of a region (this also applies to releasing animals into the wild). Non-native species may severely damage the local ecological balance due to the lack of natural predators, and may even cause certain local species to decline significantly or even go extinct.
4. Don’t build structures, furniture, or dig trenches. This kind of large-scale destruction of the local ecosystem doesn’t need much explaining—everyone can understand why it’s wrong.
V. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Camping outdoors, lighting a campfire, and sitting around with friends eating meat and chatting sounds great, but it actually has a significant impact on the environment. After one enjoyable night, the ground in that area may be barren for months, and in particularly fragile environments, it might not recover at all.
Try to minimize the impact of campfires
1. Campfires have a lasting impact on forests. You can cook with a lightweight stove or light a candle at night instead—try not to make a fire, which minimizes the impact on the local environment.2. In places where fires are allowed, use fire pits or rock rings to contain the burning area within a fixed space.
3. Keep the fire small, using only small sticks that you can break by hand and that you pick up off the ground. Breaking the sticks by hand helps control the fire size, preventing the surrounding vegetation from drying out, and also ensures more complete combustion.
4. Burn all wood or coal to ash completely, make sure the fire is completely extinguished, and then scatter the cooled ashes. This helps prevent smoldering embers from reigniting and causing a forest fire.
VI. Respect Wildlife
It’s common to encounter wildlife in the mountains—some may be beautiful little birds, while others could be venomous snakes that send shivers down your spine (Guangdong cyclists once spotted what they thought was a tasty treat... well, the author is also from Guangdong, so it’s not fair to pick on one’s own people. By the way, just to set the record straight: Guangdong cuisine is actually quite normal; aside from different tastes, the ingredients are pretty similar to other regions!). No matter what kind of animal you come across, always remember: “Not disturbing them is my kindness.”
2. Never feed wildlife. Your feeding can harm their health, alter their natural behaviors, and expose them to predators and dangers.
3. Secure your food and properly dispose of food waste to protect both yourself and wildlife. For example, in the travelogue about the Qiangtang uninhabited area, the author buried leftover lamb ribs in a pit—this prevented wild dogs or wolves from being drawn to the scent, and also avoided any discomfort the wildlife might suffer from eating human-cooked food.
4. Keep your pets under control throughout the journey, or leave them at home. If you bring along a hunting dog, make sure it doesn’t chase and kill lively wild rabbits—but such cases are probably rare in China.
5. Avoid encountering wildlife during sensitive periods such as mating, nesting, raising young, or in winter. Animals tend to be more aggressive during these times due to territorial instincts or protective behavior, and your presence may disrupt their normal breeding.
VII. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Being considerate of others—is that related to environmental protection? Actually, yes. Harmony among people ensures harmony with nature. Just think about how war damages the natural environment, and it becomes easier to understand.
“When you’re out there, you’ll always have to face the consequences.” Mutual respect and harmonious coexistence help everyone find joy in the wild.
1. Respect other visitors and preserve the quality of experience that everyone deserves. For instance, a great cycling forest trail allows all to enjoy the ride, but if someone builds a big mound of dirt for their own short-term pleasure, it may ruin the experience for others.2. Be polite and yield to others when paths cross, especially when off-road cyclists meet hikers. Mutual courtesy is especially important.
3. When you encounter someone carrying a heavy load, yield and let them pass on the downhill side of the path.
4. When resting or camping, stay away from trails and other riders/hikers to avoid causing disturbances.
5. Avoid making loud noises; let the sounds of nature accompany your journey.