Minumum Impact Kayak Touring:
The West Coast of Canada is an area rich in biodiversity. Its coastal ecosystems offer ocean kayakers almost limitless opportunities for discovery. As participants in a popular and growing activity we must take steps to minimize our impact on the natural world. A few guidelines will help us explore these areas in an environmentally sensitive manner.
Pre Trip Planning
- keep your group size small, to minimize impact on an area
- maximum group size should be ten people
- consider alternate transportation such as buses, car pooling, or walking onto ferries
While Kayak Touring
- select launching/landing sites carefully to avoid trampling intertidal life
- travelling quietly will allow you to become part of the natural world
- avoid bird and mammal breeding habitats
- use binoculars and telephoto lenses to observe and photograph wildlife
- resist the temptation to feed animals, no matter how bold or curious they may be - handouts may alter feeding habits
- tread carefully while exploring the intertidal zone - return all rocks, shells and creatures to their original location
Campsites
- avoid critical wildlife habitats, obvious animal trails, and fragile terrain
- do not cut trees or branches
- avoid digging drainage trenches around tents - choose well drained or
high ground instead
- obtain permission to camp on Indian Reserves (denoted IR on most
charts), and private land
- do not camp at cultural sites of First Nations
Pristine Sites
- choose a non-vegetated area for your camp, such as sand or rock
beaches
- situate your camp 50 meters from fresh water sources including lakes,
rivers and creeks (many animals require frequent access to these areas)
- leave no sign of your visit
- when possible, it's better to camp at established sites where your stay will cause no additional damage
- these sites may have visible tenting areas, an established fire pit, and occasionally an outhouse, but should be free of camp structures
(makeshift lean-tos, tables, etc.) and garbage
- watch where you walk - use established trails to avoid trampling
vegetation
- leave sites in a more pristine state than the way you found them
Camp Fires
- portable stoves should always be used for preparing meals
- fires should only be lit in suitable areas where there is sufficient fuel (it is not necessary to have a fire every night)
- restrict fires to cooking size - bonfires are too consumptive
- always use established fire pits where they exist
- where no established fire pit exists choose a site on sand or gravel (not mineral soil or rock) well below the monthly high tide line and away from vegetation, drift logs and rocks - do not construct a ring of rocks around
- your fire as it will permanently scar the rocks
- burn only driftwood no larger than the diameter of your fist - avoid picking an area clean
- allow the fire to burn down to ash, cold to the touch (no half burnt pieces remaining) and crush any charcoal
- remove all traces of ash and charcoal by scattering in the ocean or
packing it with you to your next site - do not bury remains
Harvesting and Fishing
- most areas can no longer sustain plant and animal harvesting - whether or not to harvest, and the amount to be taken should be critically assessed
- consult the BC Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Guide for provincial regulations and observe red tide warnings
- return all shells and entrails to the area from which they were harvested
- harvest only what you need for one meal
Waste Disposal
- Human Waste
- use outhouses wherever they are provided
- urine degrades more quickly in salt water than in topsoil
feces can contaminate intertidal organisms and in high use areas
becomes a health hazard. Feces should be packed out with you and
disposed of in proper sewage treatment facilities (use a 'boom box' or a
'port-a-potty'. When travelling with a tour company, inquire about their
practices for human waste disposal before you book.
- wash with salt water as an alternative to toilet paper, otherwise all toilet paper should be burned completely, or packed out
- sanitary pads/tampons must be packed out or burned in a fire
- Waste Water
- waste water from cooking should be drained into the ocean
soaps and detergents are pollutants and should not be introduced to
freshwater sources, including estuaries
- wash your dishes at the ocean's edge, using soapless saltwater, and sand or gravel as a scouring pad
- wash yourself and your clothing in the ocean, using (only if necessary)
small amounts of biodegradable soap
- minor hand and face washing without soap can be done in a stream or
lake
- brush your teeth at the ocean's edge
- Food Waste
- pack out everything you pack in by sorting cans, glass, plastic and
compost for recycling at home
- reduce the amount of potential garbage; plan meal quantities carefully,
package food in reusable containers and use leftovers for snacks or
lunches
- food wastes must be packed out, or completely burned
References
- Hampton, Bruce and Cole, David. Soft Paths. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1986.
- Meyer, Kathleen. How to Shit in the Woods. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1989.
- Stiff, Howard. "Keeping Wilderness Wild." Wavelength Paddling Magazine. Gabriola Island, BC, 1991.
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