Managing Routes and Trails - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 222

Education
A number of educational approaches can be employed by trail managers,
including educational campaigns, requiring users to follow codes of conduct,
as well as making use of promotional literature.
Educational campaigns have been recognized as a popular demand appro-
ach among recreation and tourism managers, often linked to ethics and appro-
priate behavior of users (Hall & Lew, 2009). Bissix et al. (2009) noted that
natural resource managers are increasingly turning to indirect environmental
management strategies over the more common demand approach of enforce-
ment by imposing regulations on users, their activities and behavior. Early
research by Hampton and Cole (1995) suggested that many user impacts in
backcountry and wilderness landscapes result from a lack of education, and if
properly informed, educational campaigns have the potential to be effective.
A popular educational campaign, particularly in the American outdoor
recreation community, has been the Leave No Trace (LNT) program, which
helps develop an environmental ethic, promotes stewardship thinking and
asks consumers to make their own judgment about appropriate behavior and
use instead of imposing regulations and rules of behavior. As a not-for-profit
organization, LNT has been successful in formally training users of back-
country and wilderness areas. The organization's seven LNT principles have
gained the attention of millions of Americans through exposure to their logo,
brochures, website and awareness-building campaigns (see Table 7.3).
Understanding LNT ethics can also be achieved in a variety of ways,
including through the assistance of trained and certified guides and outfitters
who can assure their customers are aware of proper behavior towards the
environment, other recreationists and managers and guides (Schuett, 1997;
Zeller, 2004). The case study below uses LNT to discuss the extent of knowl-
edge and ethics needed to promote acceptable behavior to minimize impacts.
Second, trail managers should adopt a code of conduct that consum-
ers must abide by while using the resource. This makes the way safer and
Table 7.3 The seven principles of Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace (LNT) principles
Plan ahead and prepare
Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Respectwildlife
Minimizecampfi re impacts
Leave what you fi nd
Be considerate of others
Dispose of waste properly
Source: Center for Outdoor Ethics (2014)