Leave No Trace Ireland Releases New Video!

For more information on Leave No Trace Ireland, visit: http://www.leavenotraceireland.org/

Ireland links with Dublin Mountain Partnership

Leave No Trace Ireland keeps forging forward with impressive, innovative, country-wide programs that engage large groups of people, educating them where it matters. Check out the article in their new e-News about the Dublin Mountain Partnership:

http://crm.countrysiderecreation.com/ENewsletter.aspx?id=14

An excerpt: "The Dublin Mountains Partnership is one of the partners of Leave No Trace Ireland. All the new recreation signage erected in the mountains promotes Leave No Trace, with the trailhead signs explaining the seven principles of Leave No Trace. All seven principles are significant in managing recreation in the Dublin Mountains. At the beginning of June, the Dublin Mountains Partnership, launched a volunteer ranger service. Twelve volunteers from the local and outdoor communities were recruited and have undergone training, including a full day Leave No Trace awareness session."

Go Ireland!

My colleague Ben and I just got off of the phone with Beverley Pierson, the program manager for Leave No Trace Ireland as well as their Board President, Bill Murphy. In a few short years, Ireland has built a solid, supported Leave No Trace program, and today we talked with them about their involvement with the Irish Canoe Union on a new project.

Leave No Trace Ireland is a strong example of how our Leave No Trace programs are applied and altered in the international community. From their application of the Leave No Trace Seven Principles, to defining a training structure that meets the needs of their constituents, a group from the outdoors, industry and education have assembled to develop a robust model for the environmental skills and ethics program, even in a uncertain economy like ours. Visit their website to see what I mean: http://leavenotraceireland.org

Photos: Irish school kids show us their Leave No Trace Awareness Awards

Finnish Instructor to Paddle Ireland and Support Leave No Trace

From Leave No Trace Ireland:

Photo courtesy of www.moln.fi

Roope Roine from Moln Ltd (a partner of Leave No Trace in America and Ireland) and another Finnish outdoor instructor will set out to paddle around Ireland in 2009. The trip will probably take them about six to eight weeks to complete, with the weather and especially the amount of windy days on the west coast of Ireland being the crux of the trip.

The 'Around Ireland' sea kayaking trip will follow the Leave No Trace principles, meaning that they will follow the practices of Leave No Trace including choosing their campsites with care and not disturbing any birds or animals along the way.

To learn more about Leave No Trace Ireland visit them at: www.leavenotraceireland.org

Ireland!

In its very short history, Leave No Trace Ireland has delivered an impressive slate of training and outreach. To date, they have:

1. Conducted 79 Leave No Trace Awareness Workshops;
2. Facilitated 22 Trainer Courses for 169 people;
3. Put on 2 Master Educator Courses and have trained 22 Masters;
4. Published their first Ireland Skills and Ethics booklet;
5. Landed on Ireland television;
6. Attended The Scouting Jamboree, Cool Earth in Dublin and the National Ploughing Championships in Kilkenny.

To learn more about Leave No Trace Ireland and the extraordinary people running this program visit: www.leavenotraceireland.org

Traveling Abroad To Teach Leave No Trace

Over the past 4 years, I've had the good fortune to travel to Hong Kong, Canada, Scotland, Montenegro and Ireland (twice) to offer in-depth Leave No Trace training. While the travel is exciting and it's always great to see and get to know a new place, the best part of it for me is knowing that I'm making a difference for the future. The impacts seen in one country may be very different from the next. Regardless, there are always some impacts and most of which we can do something about. Whether it's learning how to effectively deal with human waste or secure food and trash from wildlife or building less impactful fires, the teaching of new skills is important. More important, however, is instilling an outdoor ethic that will (hopefully) grow over time, increasing peoples connection to the land. People protect what they know and care about, especially if they have the skills to do so. It's been very encouraging to see the Leave No Trace program to take root and grow around the globe. Maybe one day all people, worldwide, who enjoy the outdoors will do so in a responsible way that leaves a legacy to those that come after us.

Leave No Trace Course in Ireland

From Leave No Trace Ireland:

The second ever Leave No Trace Master Educator course was delivered by Ben Lawhon, (Education Director for the Leave No Trace Centre for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, Colorado) from 16th to 20th June 08 in the Glendasan Valley, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.

This course is the highest level of Leave No Trace training and teaches participants the “hard skills” like appropriate human waste disposal, good campsite selection and management as well as the “soft skills” - these are the more ethical side of the message dealing with issues like behaviour around wildlife, disturbance of natural and cultural items, social impacts. The course also aims to teach participants how to teach the Leave No Trace message themselves in a non-judgmental, non-sanctimonious way and provides teaching tips to help teach the subject in a participatory, engaging way.

The course started off with an introduction to Leave No Trace and how it originated, mountainous and coastal environments were visited to explore the different impacts on different environments and the key principles were explored and discussed.

The course trained up 9 instructors in Leave No Trace who can now pass the message on through their own work within organisations / training schemes. These aspirant instructors offer Leave No Trace Training courses and awareness sessions and train up others in the Leave No Trace education programme.

Ben Lawhon commented on the course, “On my second trip to Ireland to offer a Leave No Trace Master Educator course, I was greeted with the same level of enthusiasm and excitement for the program that I was on my first visit in 2006. What made the course particularly unique is that there is now a Leave No Trace organization in Ireland that is working to promote outdoor ethics in the country, something that wasn’t yet up and running on my last visit. By having Leave No Trace Ireland, Master Educators and Trainers now have the support they need to offer education, outreach and training in order to help people understand how they can enjoy the outdoors responsibly.

The recent course was excellent and involved a great group of educators who are excited about Leave No Trace and who now possess the skills and knowledge necessary to spread Leave No Trace information effectively. With nine new Master Educators in Ireland, the training capacity has increased substantially, which means that more and more Trainer courses and Awareness sessions can be facilitated. I’m confident that all course participants have the desire to get the word out about Leave No Trace and are poised to make a significant difference in the protection of Ireland’s landscape.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to come to Ireland to work with such a dedicated group of people who want to see the program succeed. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ireland and hope that our collective efforts will benefit all those who enjoy the out-of-doors. I am particularly proud to have been a part of helping to get Leave No Trace Ireland off the ground and look forward to seeing the program grow over the coming years.”

International Leave No Trace

**Photo: The Leave No Trace principle, "Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces" is taught on a Japanese Trainer Course hosted by partner, Discovery U.

Have you ever wondered how Leave No Trace applies on Mount Kilimanjaro, on the Galapagos Islands, in the Brazilian rain forests, Japan or the Middle East? The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has received inquiries from over 60 countries in recent years for education, training or the tools to provide Leave No Trace programs in their countries. Requests have ranged from developing Leave No Trace organizations in New Zealand, Israel and India to programmatic work in places such as the Ukraine, Philippines, China, Tanzania and Bolivia. To that end, we provide educational tools and offers partnerships to these international groups. Additionally, basic Leave No Trace information has been translated into over a dozen languages, and organizations are using the program all over the world.

As a component of the Center’s international response, we have assisted in the development of three international branch organizations: Leave No Trace Australia, Leave No Trace/Sans trace Canada and Leave No Trace Ireland. These branches of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics function as independent, nonprofit organizations with their own governance, funding sources and strategic priorities though they share in the mission of Leave No Trace.

If you are interested in learning more about the three Leave No Trace branch organizations, their contact information is below:

Leave No Trace Australia:
www.lnt.org.au
Cameron Crowe, Executive Director
cameron@lnt.org.au
08 9384 9062

Leave No Trace Canada / Sans trace Canada:
www.leavenotrace.ca
Dean Cattell, Board Chair
info@leavenotrace.ca or catfam@sasktel.net
877-238-9343

Leave No Trace Ireland:
http://leavenotraceireland.org
Beverley Pierson, Coordinator
beverley@leavenotraceireland.org
0044 28 9030 3938