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Hiking responsibly6 tips for discovering our natural riches

6 tips for responsible hiking

Haute-Vienne is an ideal region for hiking enthusiasts. With its many listed natural sites, Natura 2000 areas and regional nature parks, it’s also a region that knows how to preserve its natural riches! During your stay, we also invite you to take care of this magnificent natural environment. As every gesture counts, here are a few tips for responsible hiking in Haute-Vienne.

1. Preparing your trip

Each region and each hike has its own regulations and particularities that are important to know. Haute-Vienne has 75 listed natural sites, 4 classified sites, 17 interpretation trails and 2 regional nature parks: knowing their particularities means respecting them and enjoying your hike even more!

2. Don't throw anything away

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: anything you bring on a hike should go back with you!

First of all, use reusable objects for eating and drinking: water bottles, plates and cutlery. Secondly, always take a bag with you to store your garbage during the hike. This also applies to biodegradable waste such as unprocessed food waste (fruit and vegetable peelings) and toilet paper!

You can even take the opportunity to “plog”, i.e. pick up any garbage you come across on your hiking trail and sort it out on your return home. Looking for an extra incentive to get out and about? Your goal: fill a bag with garbage found along the way!

🌳 For biodegradable waste that’s difficult to transport (if you need to relieve yourself, for example): take a shovel or a pebble and dig a hole at least 50 metres from a river, about 20 centimetres deep, without forgetting to cover it up afterwards.

Leaving your garbage on the ground carries many risks: it can attract animals to places where they shouldn’t be, make them sick and also have a negative impact on flora.

💧 Water is precious, so be careful not to pollute rivers. If you must use soap, use biodegradable soap. Use compact bottles for washing up and washing your clothes, so you don’t weigh your bag down. In winter, throwing garbage into the snow can make it stinky and unhealthy when it melts. Every item you leave in nature has an impact.

3. Stay on the marked paths

In nature, only the path is man’s territory! If you walk off the beaten track, you’re trampling on and endangering the flora and fauna already threatened by human presence.

The network of hiking trails has become much denser in recent years, and the number of people using them is constantly increasing. As you can imagine, the passage of thousands of shoes on the trails impacts vegetation and contributes to soil erosion. Choose less-frequented trails or times when there are fewer people out hiking.

On the trails, you’ll regularly see small wildlife, such as insects. Pay attention to them too, as they play a crucial and vital role in nature (pollinators, decomposers). Make sure you and your children are aware of their importance – it’ll only make your hike more fun to observe the many critters that live around us!

4. Do not pick

Who can fail to marvel at the wonders of nature’s flora? Haute-Vienne has an abundance of flora to protect! Just admire or photograph these natural beauties in their natural environment. In addition to the trampling mentioned above, picking protected plant species is another practice that endangers the natural ecosystem. What will be left if every passing hiker picks a bunch of flowers?

Make hiking even more fun by learning to recognize flora and fauna in their natural environment.

5. Respect wildlife

Always keep your distance from wildlife. Don’t try to touch them or feed them, as this alters their behavior and ability to survive without humans, putting them at risk from predators.

As a general rule, if you’re hiking with your dog, keep him on a leash. Your dog is perceived as a predator by wild animals, and may frighten them away by its mere presence.

6. Be discreet and respectful

Out of respect for other hikers and wild animals, keep a low profile. Firstly, if you make too much noise, you’ll have little chance of spotting wild animals, but also because an animal frightened by noise (screams, drone, dog, music etc.) will expend a lot of energy to flee and could endanger itself.

We all go hiking to enjoy a moment in nature, so let’s learn to share the space and be courteous to each other: pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders…

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