Need to be taught better- woodland vandalism

[Decacraft]

Spent a few hours yesterday in the local woodland and was shocked at just how much litter I came across. Empty cans (alcohol) wrappers, bottles and left over disposable bbqs. So many trees had been attempted to be cut/chopped down without reason as there's an abundance of fallen firewood available. Camp fires setup on most of the clearings. Dog mess in plastic bags thrown in bushes and trees/hung on fences.

I for one would like to see an introduction of woodland rangers or some kind of power that can issue fines of some sort for idiotic behaviour.

Even came across a tree that had been set alight and was still smouldering when I saw it

 

[Mesquite]

Words fail me

 

[Decacraft]

Words fail me

It's disgusting behaviour. I have done a few litter picks as have others in the area previously. I get that it's voluntary, and I don't want to spend my time cleaning after other people, but if I'm there I'll take a trash bag and leave it by one of the bins in the council run park nearby.

 

[Chris]

I'd like to see woodlands utilised more for camping and outdoor activities (including responsible firemaking), whilst at the same time having some kind of rangers available to kick off people abusing it.

Would be a double benefit - keep out the idiots, but also educating people and letting them grow up knowing how to be responsible in these areas.

 

[Decacraft]

I'd like to see woodlands utilised more for camping and outdoor activities (including responsible firemaking), whilst at the same time having some kind of rangers available to kick off people abusing it.

Would be a double benefit - keep out the idiots, but also educating people and letting them grow up knowing how to be responsible in these areas.

Definitly. There's no local scouts groups near me and the area could be utilised better and more beneficial for kids and others who want to learn how to conduct themselves properly and lear how to be safe and responsible.

I would happily volunteer myself a few days a month to some sort of group who managed things appropriately and kept it in a better condition.

There's not many open woodlands left near me and at this rate they will all be trashed by idiots and the beauty and habitats will be gone.

 

[Broch]

I for one would like to see an introduction of woodland rangers or some kind of power that can issue fines of some sort for idiotic behaviour.

OK, but how much would you be prepared to pay for it?
For woodland to be in the best condition for species diversity a great deal of effort needs to be put in and very little human recreational use - it's very hard to balance the two.

 

[Decacraft]

OK, but how much would you be prepared to pay for it?
For woodland to be in the best condition for species diversity a great deal of effort needs to be put in and very little human recreational use - it's very hard to balance the two.

I get what your saying. Can't have your cake and eat it kind of thing.

I suppose I would just like to see things treated with respect really and not the way I have seen it recently (I say recently but it's been like this for years with litter and the such).

 

[Laurentius]

Seems to be getting worse, they clearly don't teach them young enough. Round here trees get broken in half almost as soon as they are planted. I hate to suggest regulation as an answer but if you needed some sort of "bushcraft" license to enter various woodlands, like you do a fishing licence it might not be a bad thing.

 

[Paul_B]

Natural world does better without humans present. True wilderness is special but the UK doesn't really have any. The issue is how should humans use the land. With care and consideration is my answer but there's so many views on what that is.

A licence breeds entitlement if my experience of anglers is anything to go n by. As a kayaker even on rivers and navigations we have legal access to we've had the feeling that a licence means it's theirs and no-one else at times, not all times though. It's something that happens elsewhere as well. A tenners day ticket doesn't mean you own it and I reckon if woods had that you'd not see an improvement but could get worse!

 

[Broch]

Natural world does better without humans present. True wilderness is special but the UK doesn't really have any.

That's only true if you have a complete natural eco system to support it - so very large areas of land allowing mosaic habitats with large herbivores and predators. Without those, we have to manage land to create as many seral stages as possible and provide the best habitat diversity for wildlife.

But, I would agree, man makes a mess at most attempts at wildlife engineering

 

[Pattree]

“Management“ implies a set of human preferences rather than what would happen without human intervention.
“Balance” Is to prevent, to some extent, what would happen without human intervention.
Human abuse is offensive to most of us but it is what our ancestors did without conscience.

 

[Broch]

No, management to maintain the maximum biodiversity is not about human preference or requirement, it's about putting nature/wildlife first. We do not have the land mass in the Britain for 'natural' ecology. If we want all the species that existed in the natural British landscape (late Mesolithic - early Neolithic) that still exist today to survive we have to 'manage' the land to create all the mosaic habitats that were here then and we have to emulate all the seral stages that the wildlife occupied.

 

[Pattree]

Ah! A zoo.

 

[Broch]

Oh dear - and so we keep losing habitat and species

 

[Pattree]

Not at all . We have folk like you who care and defend.
Nature would have wiped out many more species than we have.

 

[slowworm]

Going back to the OP about being taught better. I wouldn't say I was taught much about the countryside, just brought up around people who did what was right, i.e. take you litter home, don't damage stuff and don't take what's not yours.

I might be showing my age now but it seems rare if people act that way today, dropping litter seems normal, taking or damaging stuff also seems normal as the countryside is free for anyone to do whatever they wish. I also get frustrated that people who should look after the countryside, like councils, are often the worst offenders. So I wouldn't think a warden scheme would help much.

 

[Broch]

I've said before, how can we expect people coming into the countryside to keep it tidy when they see so much farm rubbish everywhere - plastic from silage bags, plastic bags from feed, nylon string everywhere, empty feed and supplement feeders in the hedges, tyres left in the field where they were changed, the list could go on.

It's not just the people coming into the countryside who's attitudes have changed.

(I acknowledge that not all farmers behave this way; just in our area it's the majority )

 

[Tantalus]

The education system has a lot to answer for, I for one would be happier if more time was spent educating kids how to behave responsibly outdoors and less forcing kids to pass exams.

In Germany the hunters would put up signs warning of Rabies to deter casual visitors where much of the woodland was owned by the government (some local, some national) or the church. I doubt there was much rabies but I could be wrong.

I guess signs warning of the dangers of Lyme disease or Adders might deter some of the less responsible types in this country.

 

[Broch]

The education system has a lot to answer for, I for one would be happier if more time was spent educating kids how to behave responsibly outdoors and less forcing kids to pass exams.

In Germany the hunters would put up signs warning of Rabies to deter casual visitors where much of the woodland was owned by the government (some local, some national) or the church. I doubt there was much rabies but I could be wrong.

I guess signs warning of the dangers of Lyme disease or Adders might deter some of the less responsible types in this country.

They'd have to know what Lyme Disease and an adder are before it would put them off

 

[Tantalus]

They'd have to know what Lyme Disease and an adder are before it would put them off

Ah to heck with it, just put the bull in the woods for a week or 2 then