A podcast by Cipra. In podcast, de la Cipra. De la Cipra. De la Cipra.
The Cipra Podcast. Three-prin podcast. Interviews, background talks and voices from all Alpine countries. Listen to this and more in the podcast of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, www.cipra.org.org.
Forward slash podcast. Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Cipra Podcast. My name is Veronique Riebenik. Do you love exploring the mountains as much as we do?
If so, then this will be an interesting podcast episode for you. Many of us are tempted to share our wonderful moments in the mountains with others through social media and other digital channels. Instagram, Outdoors, Active, Comort. You name it.
They are full with postings about the most beautiful places in the Alps. But what could be problematic about that? This is one of the questions we will try to answer in this episode. Our first stop is Bavaria in Germany, where we meet Karolinschiter.
She is responsible for the communication of the Berthdesgarten National Park. In 2020, a well-known influencer posted a photo and a drone flight above the natural infinity pool at the Königsbach Falls in the middle of the protected area. The consequence? Hundreds of daily visitors came to see this natural infinity pool with their own eyes, which was problematic, as Karolinschiter explains.
We had an infor of the fires. They trampled all over the forest because there were no official trails to the spot, only dirt tracks and no signpost name. People tried to reach this spot by all kinds of routes and created many kilometers of new dirt tracks. This situation caused a lot of damage to the vegetation.
We counted up to 600 visitors per day. Mostly they were young people, couples, all small groups, trying to find that one spot in the pool for that one photo. We thought of various ways to handle the problem. First of all, we re-signposted and pointed out the dangers.
They have already been left at that spot. They have also been a lot of rescue missions because the area is very tricky to reach. As we had a free ride of access, entering this area was initially not prohibited. This means that we first tried to keep the guests from going there with information campaigns and signposting.
We also increasingly deployed our rangers in the area, for example to collect rubbish. And we tried to use various media channels to explain clearly what the negative consequences are for nature. At the same time we started a small campaign on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. We tried to answer the most important questions that came up with these posts.
What is allowed and what is not allowed in protected areas? We tried to explain the central questions directly to our users. We spent a very dialogue intensive time on social media. We tried to take a mix of offline and online measures.
We installed new signage on site and updated the different rules and bands offline and online. We also started another social media campaign. We produced small video clips about the rules and bands as they were presented rather statically on the signs. I have a very funny creative colleague who works part-time for us and is responsible for our social media channels.
He produced short videos and explained all these different rules and bands that we have in the park. The videos are only 10 to 15 second long cartoon clips and show with a dash of humor what is forbidden in a national park and what visitors should be careful about. So that was one digital area where we tried to intervene. Then we started another digital campaign, stopped geotagging, safe nature.
We asked people who posted pictures on social media to refrain from adding their GPS coordinates to their posts. So that people don't think, wow, that's an amazing photo. I have to go there too. To be honest, it got us a lot of likes on social media, but it didn't work in the field.
Still more and more people came and they continued to go to this area. There was an enormous amount of attention on the spot. We then had a video conference with the influencer and Youtuber Franklin. The Franklin is one of those lifestyle Youtubers who posted a path to this pool.
So we invited him to a conference. We wanted to know what are influencers or Youtubers thinking when they make these posts. What do they expect from it? And are they even aware of the damage they can cause, especially in protected areas?
We wanted to get a feeling for their opinions and it turned out to be a very interesting conference. For the Youtuber, the infinity pool was a crazy awesome spot. That's how he promoted it in his videos. And he asked us clearly, well, why shouldn't I share it?
It's not forbidden. So if it's not forbidden, then I can do it. If you don't want that, then ban it. That was his main message.
He follows the rules, but he didn't understand why he should not visit this area if it is allowed. Unfortunately, all the different things that we tried offline and online. The presence of rangers on the side, the signposting, the social media campaigns didn't help. As the last result, we had to close the area.
This decision was also heavily covered by the media. The local nature conservation authority has declared a vegetation protection area. This goes hand in hand with a ban on entering the area. Before that happened, we also involved our various stakeholders.
For us, it was very important to involve the local people in this process so that they also supported taking measures. We also got two new positions. The summer two rangers were exclusively responsible for controlling this new protected area. We also issued high fines for entering this area.
We also had to change the work schedule for our rangers. This means that since the summer the rangers have been working in shifts for the first time, like this, we can also cover the early morning hours and the late evening hours. This was not easy to communicate with the team, but it was simply necessary. This new situation presented us with a challenge that also required an adjustment of the shift plan.
We have put up signs everywhere in the area so that no one can say, I didn't know. Now everyone who enters this area is aware that they are doing something they shouldn't be doing. I think the..... So, the British Guard National Park finally had to forbid access to the area around the natural infinity pool, as Caroline Chiter explained.
The postings by an influencer were causing the problem of way too many visitors. But are all influencers ignorant against their impact on nature when they are posting out to pictures and videos? Magdalena Carlos is someone who at least tries to make a difference. She is a blogger and influencer who uses her reach to draw attention to the issue of littering in nature.
I have a lot of time to talk about social media. I am one of the two people behind the social media blog, you are an adventure story. We have around 72,000 subscribers and they all come from the mountaineering and auto sports sector. So our target group is pretty narrow.
It consists of people who are somehow involved with mountains, who do sports in the mountains or who like to travel there. We have been using the platform for almost six years now. Through a growing number of followers, we have had more and more opportunities to be able to see the future. Through a growing number of followers, we have had more and more opportunities to cooperate with brands, with tourism associations, with hotels, with destinations of various kinds and we have been able to achieve a lot.
I think that is also the main motivation for accounts to continue when they reach a certain size. At the beginning you share, you get likes and people are happy. But at some point you see, hey, I also have advantages and maybe I get something for free or I'm invited someplace nice. So I don't want to deny that at all on the contrary.
If you can combine your passion with something for yourself, that's great. When I moved to Viking say about a year ago, I also wanted to give something back. I wanted to use our reach to give something back to the nature that we use for our own benefit, for our leisure time, to recharge our batteries, and where we enjoy beautiful views or we treat even use for our business. And the most obvious thing for me was to start looking close to my own home.
So I asked myself, what can I do that doesn't cost me anything that has direct visible results and that is easy for me. I contacted the head of tourism in the municipality, Koglamsi. He had also wanted to approach me because he noticed that there's someone who keeps posting pictures of the Herzogstrand, the nearby mountain. So we got together.
Together with the local tourism agency, he had just launched a new campaign called Nature Conservation Begins with you. We quickly agreed that I would be involved somehow. He was looking for someone to take part and to be added to the multiplier. Relatively quickly we started to collaborate.
Since then we actually have had a big article in the Sudhoytjet Sidon. So for almost five months now I've been publicly collecting rubbish once a month. And I have been motivating people to join me as well. They can do that either in person at the mountain where I am or join Digitale and tag us so that we can share it.
I do a little bit for myself free of charge because it's super easy because I'm going to the mountains anyway. I try to encourage people to reflect and to open their eyes so that they don't just go on a great tour but that they also pick up one or two pieces of rubbish. I think that's something that all of us can do always. Even when I go trail running and I don't specifically go out to collect rubbish, I pick something up if I see something.
It should simply become a habit to all of us. So once a month the topic is Nature Conservation Begins with you. You just have to look around and take a small rubbish back with you. It's totally easy and that's what it is for me in the end.
And we've also learned a lot since then. Before I moved to Varkincy, I didn't really know what was going on in the mountains every day. The rubbish, the traffic, the topic of visitor guidance, the call-ups of the roads, I wasn't aware of it. So if you ask yourself how you can use digital media as a destination or as a national park in order to try attention to your own interests and how to approach these, I'll say evil influences.
Because of course we influencers are responsible for people coming. Of course we share posts and say, Hey, it's totally beautiful here. Come to Varkincy. So I would really recommend that if there are influencers with a certain audience close by or who live in the region, just contact them and say, Hey, you have a great account and great pictures.
We're sure you're also interested in keeping your place as beautiful as it is. Wouldn't you like to share something in our interest and try attention to it? I am sure that more people are open or willing to talk about it than you might think of. If someone approaches me, I'm always happy to share because I care a lot about Nature.
Of course there are also these, let's say hip influencers, maybe like these YouTuber who don't really have the same laugh in mountains, but are just doing it because hiking is somehow trendy now. Still many people are open to letting people talk to them, maybe also tell them, Hey, don't post about any trees that are not online and don't post any pictures from the Hegerstag, which is not officially advertised. So I think that you can talk about it and just keep appealing to them and the broader audience with your messages. The multiplier is very important, simply try to reach as many people as possible who will then pass it on.
Because as I said, people who love the mountains who enjoy mountainneering or hiking are aware of how to behave in nature. They know that you have to stay on the trails. It's more the people who see something on Instagram and then think, Oh, I'll go there now too. And these people don't think ahead.
What if I come here tomorrow? What will it look like then? They're more like, Oh, I'll just quickly walk there this one time and tomorrow I'll be gone again. So yes, this is an example that influencers don't always just do bad things but also think about their actions more than you would assume.
Yeah, I believe that's my life. I believe that's influenced by the influence. I believe that's my life. I believe that's my life.
This was the influencer and blogger, Magdalena Kahlus, speaking about her actions against littering in nature. Very often social media postings show a perfect mountain needle ignoring side effects like littering and illegal camping in sensitive areas. The Alpine clubs try to raise awareness for this among their members and among the outdoor online community as well. The Swiss Alpine club, for example, does this with its hashtag Van Life with the hashtags, non-geotag, leave-known trays, conscious camping and by local, they raise awareness on illegal wild camping with vans in the Alps.
Let's be honest, sharing is good, but not everything and not always. This is especially true for sharing your favorite places on social media. hashtag non-geotag is the only way your inside the tips really stay inside the tips because masterism can really destroy a beautiful place. hashtag leave no trace.
What does it mean? Take any rubbish back with you, do your business away from water and bury it. And if there is no other way and you have to go wild camping, choose your spot carefully so that you protect the fauna and the flora. Keep a low profile and your camping chairs inside.
hashtag conscious camping. In general, refrain from wild camping and use the existing offers whenever possible. If campsites are full, find out where else you can stay in the area. If you have to go wild camping, be aware of prohibitions and ask local residents for safety.
And above all, don't upload new sites online without consulting the landowners. This way you can avoid conflicts in advance and you can protect nature. Last but not least, support the local value creation and hashtag buy local. Shop in the village shop, pay the visitor stacks and the parking fees.
By doing so, you support local businesses and help to secure regional offers in the long term because sustaining these infrastructures also costs. But what else can be done about problematic postings on social media and what are the do's and don'ts? We ask people across the Alps for their ideas and they send us some messages. My name is Martin Heppler and I'm one of three founders of Pounds on BAC.
Our organization wants to inform about possibilities reaching hikes in the Alps via public transportation and motivates people to try it. More people using public transportation on their way to the Alps means less crowded parking lots in the Alps, less traffic there and back, less emissions and finally more. The possibility to use public transport depends on the region you are living in. People who haven't got the possibility will of course use their car.
We can talk about if it makes sense to share a car, so not everyone drives alone or to change to a train at the bigger railway station. Everybody else can get tips how to reach an attractive hiking goal at Ranssenberg or at Tül. So instead of those and don'ts, I would like to emphasize on the fact that without the need to return to your starting point, you suddenly have much more possibilities. You start on one side of the mountain and descend on the opposite side.
In my opinion, this is the best feature of hiking with public transportation. Second best is that I do not have to drive myself home. I can sit, drink, eat, use the toilet or sleep without having to keep one thing. Hello, I'm Corolla and I'm working in the Bergesgarten National Park.
My chief responsibility is with such a guidance in the park. This winter season we have a campaign for ski touring and snowshoe hiking. We want them to stay outside our forest and wire sanctuaries. That animals, like grouse, snow haire or chamois, have a refuge in the hard and cold wintertime.
Together with the campaign of the German alpenfariin, Natuliyaofture, we created flyer and information signs where the visitor can see the recommended ski and snowshoe route. Another example for our visitor guidance is in the digital field. We have a cooperation with Komot, so we can create collections from the Bergesgarten National Park. You can find great and nature-compatible tours from easy to difficult, no matter if you want to go hiking, mountain biking or snowshoe hiking.
Our most current campaign is called How to Shit in the Nature, a measure against the handkerchief rain around the parking lots, huts and alps. Important for the visitors is to know that handkerchiefs can take up to five years till they rot in the mountains. The manufacturer make them more and more tear resistant and therefore more durable. Hi, my name is Florian Heinle.
I am a ranger in the nature park nage located in the south of Germany. Our region is known for the high biodiversity created by sustainable agriculture and forestry. To protect biodiversity, we rely on informative visitor guidance, starting with online tour planning and ending with signage at sensitive areas. In addition, we rangers can be found in the nature park to provide information on nature-friendly behavior and to point out rules of conduct.
In order to protect our nature, every visitor can make his contribution. When hiking, stay on the trails, keep your dog on a leash and take your dress with you. Especially in winter, the animals are very sensitive. Avoid tourist at night and at dusk, stay on known routes and do not enter forest areas.
Together, we can all pay a hard and preserving diversity for future generations. Hello, I am Lucy Liggett, our work for the Swiss Alpine Club, dealing with environmental and free access issues in the Swiss mountains. Our goal is that Montelovars can still enjoy the freedom and beauties of nature without disturbing our environment. Experiencing the wilderness of the Swiss Alps is essential to understand how this fragile ecosystem works, to love its beauties and to want to protect it.
This is why we organise a wide range of environmental courses where we discuss how to get to know the Alpine environment better. To practice different sport activities while still protecting our home, some on things. It is a challenge that we are committing to meeting in various mountain sports, both in summer, while balancing between nesting bird protection and climbing, and in winter, when our passes cross a fauna that is weakened by harsh conditions. To preserve these beauties for kids and grandkids, please plan your trip carefully, respect protected areas and their rules and leave no trace behind you.
To protect our climate, provide by public transport and support of local economy by consuming local goods. Everybody is responsible for the preservation of the Alps, a gift that we must cherish and pass on to future generations. Hello, I am Ivan Mitrowski, I am a comic artist and an illustrator, and I made a comic book about a wolf that lived in a comic savina Alps for some time. The point was to make people are co-citizens aware that we are sharing this space with other creatures and we should be living together.
It soon became like a bigger comic about all the ecological problems in the Alps. Because of increase in number of tourists, the water that flows from the mountain is polluted, and this is the absolute main problem that we have to address. Other problems that were addressed in this comic is that in comics, vinars and diseases, that a lot of people go unprepared to these locations and they are sometimes stuck in the mountains left, and they have to call for the rescuers to come rescue them. So these are the main topic of this comic.
Let's recap. If you go outdoors, think about the impact of your activities in nature and what pictures you want to share. Remember that you are a guest, respect the natural environment and the other visitors. Plan your activity carefully, respect the rules on site and listen to the rangers.
Help to keep nature clean, take your waste with you. Keep secret places, secret and avoid geotagging. And last but not least, have fun and enjoy the magnificent Alpine nature. This podcast was produced in the frame of the Alpine White Project Special Apps 2, in which four pilot regions are testing measures to guide visitors.
The pilot regions are the Thierula Leitenage Park in Austria, the Karmnik Savina Alps in Slovenia, the Mountaineering Village Balmain Italy and Batrajihinhale in Germany. The project is managed by the Sipra International and the Alliance in the Alps Network of Municipalities. It is made possible by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. You can find more information on the Special Apps 2 project at www.zipra.org.
If you want to read more about good practices for successful visitor guidance, visit our Special Apps 2 map at www.zipra.org. Thank you for listening, goodbye and remember to leave no trace behind. A podcast by Sipra. In podcast by the Lachipra.
In podcast by the Lachipra. The Lachipra. The Lachipra. Interviews, background talks and voices from all Alpine countries.
For this and more, in the podcast of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, www.zipra.org.