Leave no trace. Why do we do it? 

This blog is written by Joe Hoyle, Estate Manager at Castle Howard

On Saturday 22^nd April, the world will be celebrating National Earth Day, an event held every year since 1970 to celebrate and demonstrate support for the natural environment. As we all set aside time to consider how our energy and resources can be used to love our planet more, I have been thinking about how the Bushcraft product can contribute in the same way.

One aspect of our camps, though not immediately apparent, stuck out for me. It is not an extravagant demonstration, nor is it a crafty, bushcrafty party-trick. It is certainly not at the forefront of our sales pitches to schools, yet it is so unbelievably important in understanding our place in the natural, and spiritual, world. It is the simple act of teaching children to “leave no trace” after their group activities are over.

Our first-day extravaganza is always fire lighting. The children learn different ways to understand, start and maintain a fire, and then get the chance to build, and cook on, their very own fire. These principles of survival, perseverance and understanding of natural materials are all fun, engaging and creative, yet the lesson of “leaving no trace” is just as important. Children pour water on their fires and cover over scorched earth with leaves and grass. The black charcoal becomes face paint and they leave the woods as if nobody has been there. They learn this lesson on day one, and carry it through every activity, until camp is over and it is time to go home. But why?

The woods are for all of us! We share our home with flora, fauna, bugs, beetles, reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals. This is good, wholesome and fulfilling, and our staff reinforce this over the course of the camp. We leave no trace of our activities as a part of caring for the woodland and its other inhabitants.

We share the woods with other school groups. It is important for children to empathise with future visitors and aim to provide those they have never met with just as good an experience as they have had. This can be an incredibly powerful empathetic and emotive tool.

We can adapt ourselves to our surroundings, rather than the other way around. We hope that children can leave our camps with a better understanding of nature and their place in it. Invariably, if we look after our environment, and treat it with respect, it reciprocates.

It is my great hope that everybody leaves our woods with this in mind and takes the lessons of leaving no trace into their daily lives. We can then say on National Earth Day, that we have contributed, however small, in protecting our earth.