Photos of damaged mountain ecosystems please!

[shanja]

HI everyone. I'll be giving a speech again this years UN International Mountain Day (UNIMD) in Seoul and wanted to present a short powerpoint slide show highlighting some of the negative impacts humans and even climbers/ hikers can have on the mountain - as well as how we can turn that around and be proactive in restoring areas/ protecting areas.

So if you have any photos of ciggie butts in cracks, trash about crags or hiking trails, litter strewn base camps, eroded out trails, defiled climb routes, graffitti on cliffs etc OR people removing trash, repairing erosion, planting trees, maintaining trails etc

PLEASE could you e-mail them to me (larger the size the better!) at jakeshanja "at" hotmail "dot" com with an explanation of where the pic was etc....INTERNATIONAL photos welcome!! Not just Korea based pics.

I will thank all contributers publicly and privately, and credit you for all work. Later I'll buy you a beer or whatever.

Many thanks, Jake.

[Hypoxic]

We have plenty, Jake. Have a look at the gallery on the KMPL site so you can pick and choose. Let me know which ones you want and I'll send them to you. There are others too that I can send.

I'm working on my ideas for my speech which will likely focus on children and educating them about conservation and the sort. I've also thought of doing something similar that you're thinking with my photos, but perhaps I can provide the lovely side - the wonder and sheer ineffable yet simple beauty of it all. It may be a nice contrast to your photos. The KMPL site aims to show this contrast in the gallery, so it may be a nice touch to do so at the seminar as well. What do you think? I'm planning on being the MC again so I'll mix all of this into my opening speech.

[shanja]

Cool! Thanks Shawn. Actually I was thinking of doing a split sad/ happy talk, showing how we can turn these damages around and also using the event to unleash my plans of a National Climbing Clunb Crag/ Mountain Protection Fund....like the access fund in the USA etc but run under the umbrella of the KAF/ CAC or whomever with all clubs in Korea (including KOTR and KMPL) being asked/ able to contribute to this. And the 2ndry idea to establish thru the clubs a National Clean-up Day event, with backing hopefully even from the Korea National Parks Service, local Govts etc. I believe that such a collaboration could have a major impact on the environment as well as on our own socio-cultural inter-actions etc.
Finally I would like to raise the idea that climbing clubs should be lobbying the govt to have KNPS re-instae entrance fees and employ more rangers with much greater powers to prosecute litter-bugs etc.

[Hypoxic]

Good call, Jake. I've been complaining to the parks about the lack of entrance fees (which isn't true of all parks), questioning their reasoning since KNPS is always crying about lack of funding.

The rangers here not having actual enforcement authority is simply ridiculous. Professor KC Kim is a big opponent to this and has been trying to convince the government/KNPS to actually train their rangers in montane ecology and law enforcement. He is perhaps the biggest critic of Korea's national parks system, and has suggested that Bukhansan National Park no longer maintains the ecological requirements to be considered a park. It'd be great to have him as a speaker at the seminar, but unfortunately he lives in the States (he teaches at Penn State).

Anyhow, let's keep filling each other in on our ideas for this year, and I look forward to feedback from everyone else.