Young trees are being hacked down and tonnes of litter being dumped by visitors to the Lake District who are camping illegally at some of Cumbria’s most iconic beauty spots around Thirlmere and Haweswater.
In recent weeks employees from United Utilities have removed huge volumes of litter including abandoned tents and camping equipment. They have also discovered numerous young trees have been chopped down and found evidence of potentially dangerous fires being lit.
The sad findings have become an everyday occurrence for United Utilities woodland officer Andrew Wright this summer and he is urging visitors to respect the environment and leave it as they find it.
Most of the problems have been in woodland areas. Andrew explained: “Unfortunately this seems to be a growing trend. As well as spoiling the stunning scenery and ruining it for others, it is also threatening the future resilience of woodland areas, including some Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
“To see young trees hacked down by wild campers so they can use them in campfires is heartbreaking. As well as creating a significant fire risk, the people doing this are destroying the next generation of trees, the ones that would be around for their children to enjoy.
“They are also leaving their camping equipment and litter behind for somebody else to clean up – we’ve even found the axes that they’ve used to cut down the trees dumped with the rest of their camping gear.”
The activity is damaging some Sites of Special Scientific Interest, some of which are still recovering from fires caused by illegal campers in the summer of 2021.
Andrew added: “There is a social media craze promoting wild camping and Raven Crag at Thirlmere has become an incredibly popular selfie spot – yet sadly some visitors also leave their litter behind. Even though it is a popular spot with visitors, most of whom are responsible, we have found young trees hacked down and evidence of camp fires up there.
“The Lake District is an amazing place to visit, and we want people to come and see how beautiful it is – but we also want them to camp in designated areas and to leave only footprints so others can also enjoy it and nature can thrive.”
Camping, fires and barbecues are not permitted on United Utilities’ estates in the Lake District. Fly-tipping is a criminal offence.
United Utilities supports the National Park’s Safer Lakes partnership which sees local emergency services, landowners, conservation charities and volunteers work to tackle issues across the area.
