Leave No Trace

For outdoor activity operators and accommodation providers offering outdoor activity holidays Fáilte Ireland is introducing a new outdoor education programme – Leave No Trace early in the New Year.

Leave No Trace is an educational programme developed in the US in the early 1980s designed to help people using the outdoors for business to ensure that what they do does not impact badly on the environment.

Respect for land is the ethical message at the heart of the Leave No Trace programme which encourages outdoor enthusiasts to behave in a way that respects and protects the integrity of land, recognising the lands intrinsic value as a resource.

The programmes message is simple and straightforward to teach and many people don’t realise that even slight changes can have positive effects on the outdoors, and on the environment.

This programme is currently practiced in a number of overseas countries renowned for their excellence in outdoor activities such as Canada, Finland and Australia & Ireland and is based on a set of seven core principles.

• Plan Ahead and Prepare

• Be Considerate of Others

• Respect Wildlife and Farm Animal

• Travel and Camp on Durable Ground

• Leave What You Find

• Dispose of Waste Properly’

• Minimise the Effects of Fire

The beauty of Leave No Trace is that it’s simple, reasonable and makes good sense. In fact, many of us are already practicing much of what Leave No Trace promotes. Providing this programme will help provide outdoor users with a good background from which to make better decisions.

Fáilte Ireland will be offering a Leave no Trace awareness programme in the New Year and any outdoor activity provider or accommodation provider offering activity holidays can register their interest with Ciara Scully at ciara.scully@failteireland.ie