This hicker kicks kicks on a pile of picturesque stone of the people. But he got a good reason

Stuart Cax is waging war against hundreds of stone piles who leave their favorite hiking trails.

Decorative structures, they say, destroying local archeology, damaging the trail system and Disrupt wildlifeSo when he sees one, he destroys it.

Weapon of his choice?

“Brout Force and A Size 11 Boot,” British Hykar told As it happens Guest host Catherine Kulen.

Cox has seen millions of times and International headlines For him Supplementary laden VideoPosted in this spring and summer, in which he kills a stone pile in the Peak District National Park in Central-None England.

Some commentators have condemned their curmedzonally boot-to-rock approach, but they have the support of both park officials and conservation scientists.

‘Nothing is safe from humans or Instagram’

Man-made stone piles, sometimes called kerns, are found in many cultures worldwide, and historically used as dunes, reference points and navigational devices.

In Canada, the most prestigious Cairns are Inukshuk. Originally manufactured by Inute, these people’s size structures are traditionally used to mark travel routes, hunting grounds, food cash and more.

But in recent years, activity known as stone-stacking or Rock balance All stripes have become a common pastime for hikers – and, rapidly, a headache for people managing public land.

In national park France, AmericaAnd more has issued a warning against stone stacking.

in Canada, Jasper National Park in Alberta And Gros Morne National Park In Newfoundland, both of them have stopped construction of inukusks on mountains and trails with the public.

Cox says he has literally seen hundreds of stone structures on the historic summit district trails, some as long as a person, as far as the eye can see.

“Since people are on Tikokkok and Instagram, they will post a good picture with a stone pile and then clean and go home and leave it. And before you know it, I think once people see one there, they are there, they are like sheep, they are not? And they are not there, and they follow the herd,” they said.

“Nothing is safe from humans or Instagram.”

That rock can be a crater home

So what is the problem in stacking stones? The rocks, it is revealed, is a task to do.

They provide habitat, protection, feeding grounds and more for a variety of wildlife, including snails, insects, lizards and plants.

“We already have a significant impact on the planet,” told to CBC in an email, an associate professor of conservation science at the University of Oxford. “Nature does not need to disturb the natural environment by stacking stones.”

Rocha is co-writer 2020 letter to editorPublished in the Journal Human-Waledlife Interaction, stone-stacking is called “a danger to rock-diolence biodiversity”.

While he believes that the effect is probably less serious with well -worn trails, he says that people often go away from the path in search of rocks.

And even if they put them back, where they found that they have taken their pictures, they say that they could disrupt the balance of an ecosystem.

Asked what he thinks about Cox’s approach to raise awareness about the negative effects of stone-stacking, Rocha said: “In the words of civil rights activist John Lewis, he is engaging in ‘Good trouble, necessary troubles,

Harmful to trails and historical sites

In some cases, these instagrammable structures can also be dangerous for people.

Some parks are used as official trail manufacturers, which means that evil people can deviate people.

In May in Arizona, it happened for a hicker who, according to a local police, was to be saved after wandering from the footpath and was lost while lost. After a series of unauthorized caers Near the peak of Granite mountain.

Cox in areas repeatedly, he says that people sometimes remove stones that are deliberately placed there to strengthen the trails, which pose a risk of erosion and flood.

Other times, they say, they take the rocks from an ancient stone wall, according to the UK National Trust, in the dates of 1579 and have become home for a wide wild array of wildlife, or from the Maam Torn Hillphart, a protected bronze era historical site included in which other things, among other things, include stone -burn.

“So they are probably up to 4,000 years old and people are coming together and removing the rocks from them, which is not very good,” he said.

The claims of Cox have been supported by the Peak District National Park Authority, which Told BBC News The stone piles are “harmful” to the area, and the UK National Trust, who told the British Broadcaster: “Sadly, stone piles are not only affecting the history of the site, but they are also affecting the natural habitats of wildlife that live and feed within these ancient walls.”

Cox believes that his approach to protection is “slightly dramatic” and may rub the wings. But most people, they say, just don’t know better and are grateful to education.

He says that he once pushed someone on a pile of about two meters, as if he was taking a picture of it.

“Initially, they were quite upset. But to be fair for them, once I explained to me the reason for doing so, they were really (eg), ‘Oh, well we did not know it. Now we know that it is really harmful, we will not do it again,” he said.

“So met through the message.”