If you’ve been planning on hiking the trails this summer, your hiking poles may be in trouble. While they have benefits for walkers (better body balance, reduced muscle fatigue, etc.), they are likely to harm the environment with their metal tip. Multiple crossings on the busiest routes often lead to vegetation degradation and soil erosion.
In some coastal towns, particularly in Brittany, their use is now prohibited by municipal decree. This is particularly the case in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) from June 29. The port city crosses the famous GR 34, also known as the “publicans’ route”, a route that follows the Breton coast for 2,000 km. “Like ice axes, these spikes pierce paths and can wreak havoc“, he explains 20 minutes Davit Samzun, head of the community.
Rubber tips
A few days ago, the same initiative was taken in the town of Belle-Île-en-Mer, where the GR 340, the favorite hiking trail of the French in 2022, allows you to circumnavigate the island for 85 km. “Since the beginning of the year, we have all noticed a dramatic increase in the number of hikers on the Belle-Île-en-Mer coastal path. This increase in attendance contributes to the acceleration of coastal road erosion and vegetation degradation“, it is mentioned in the decision of the municipality published on June 20. Only hikers who have equipped their poles with a rubber tip can use the trail. These tips are sold for a few euros in most sports shops (eg €4 a pair at Decathlon).
In 2010, elected officials in Perros-Guirec were the first to ban hiking poles, always to protect the GR 34, borrowed by 9.1 million users in 2018. In turn, the French Federation of Campaigns, noting that their use is spreading, makes recommendations.As a precaution when you take on the more fragile sections of the coast road, such as wetlands or dune paths, we would appreciate it if you could protect the tips of your rods with rubber tips.recommends the Finistère branch on its website. Indeed, long-term consequences such as erosion of the soil and its vegetation, flooding, and widening of the roadway are to be feared.»
Source: Le Figaro
