On a travel community, Mr. Nguyen Trong Cung (Thai Binh) just shared a photo of a pile of garbage he took during his journey to conquer Lung Cung peak in early December.
“Garbage is scattered along the way, especially in the waterfall area and the rest house. Mainly plastic bags, raincoats, plastic water bottles...”, Mr. Cung shared.
Mr. Cung’s post immediately attracted many comments, most of which opposed the littering of some tourists. Mr. Cung added that the first time he conquered Lung Cung peak - “the roof of Mu Cang Chai” in 2020, the route was very clean, without the littering situation like now.
Currently, in addition to Lung Cung, there are a number of other places that are chosen by many tourists to climb such as Ta Chi Nhu (Yen Bai), Ta Xua (Son La), Lao Than (Lao Cai)... where there is a widespread situation of garbage.
"It is possible that the large number of visitors in a short period of time has caused the amount of garbage at Lung Cung to be overloaded," said Mr. Cung.
However, with experience having participated in many trekking tours in the mountains, Mr. Cung said that the main reason why garbage is "in the wrong place" is due to the low awareness of individuals and popular activities about the garbage problem of some mountain climbing groups.
Mr. Manh Chien, a porter who guides many trekking groups in the northern mountains, said that the problem of littering is largely due to personal awareness, so tourists do not throw their trash in the right place. Normally, if climbers have personal trash, they will take it home themselves, or the porters will collect it and clean it up.
With its wild, majestic beauty and challenging heights, Lung Cung, Ta Chi Nhu, Lao Than... are attractive trekking destinations for those who love to explore and take risks in Vietnam. The dark, mysterious primeval forests with rich vegetation, ancient trees covered with moss or countless paths with steep, dangerous slopes, and babbling streams are truly natural beauties that make many tourists on their journey of conquest ecstatic.
“The sight of litter has a huge negative impact on the natural landscape and experience of future climbers. No one feels happy when they have worked hard to climb to the top and see plastic bottles scattered among the green forest,” Cung said.
To somewhat reduce environmental pollution when participating in trekking tours, Mr. Cung shared that he and everyone in the group often limit cutting down trees to grill meat, reduce bringing fast food with plastic bags, plastic water bottles in boxes...
Raising awareness of environmental protection, “leaving nothing but footprints behind” is one of the ways to both ensure the sustainability of the majestic, pristine natural beauty of the mountains, and avoid negative impacts on the mood of trekking tourists.
Currently, most of the tourists climbing Lung Cung Mountain are spontaneous groups, not through travel agencies or tourism companies. Because the trekking route is far from residential areas, it is difficult for authorities to grasp the situation.
Many groups of tourists bring food and drinks and do not have the sense to clean up. In addition, some tourists also report the situation of cutting down trees for firewood and building shelters, affecting the natural environment.
