21 people charged after environmental damage and littering around Loch Lomond

21 people have been charged in relation to irresponsible camping and environmental damage in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park over the first weekend after travel restrictions were lifted.

Despite the wet weather, campers left significant amounts of litter, including large items of camping equipment such as chairs and sleeping bags, broken glass and full bin bags of rubbish, and caused irreparable fire damage to trees and the ground in a number of locations around the National Park.

At one site 19 bags of litter were collected and ten at another. At a separate site a tree was so badly damaged by fire it may need to be felled.

This happened in spite of national guidance asking people not to go camping until the 15th July.

21 individuals have been charged under the Camping Management Byelaws 2017, which cover certain areas of the National Park creating Camping Management Zones between March and September each year.

Within these zones, people can only camp in a campsite or a pre-booked camping permit area. All National Park Authority campsites and camping permit areas remain closed due to Covid-19 in line with Scottish Government guidance.

The byelaws are enforced by both National Park Rangers and Police Scotland and can result in a fine of up to £500.

Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, said: “It’s devastating to see the images of the of litter and damage caused by people camping over the weekend. Not only is this irresponsible behaviour and environmental damage a blatant breach of the byelaws, it is also happening at a time when the national guidance is that people shouldn’t be going camping at all.”

“While I can understand people’s desire to get out and enjoy the outdoors after such a long time being in lockdown I cannot understand why anyone would think it’s ok to destroy the place they’ve visited in this way. We cannot replace nature easily, or at the speed we are seeing it destroyed.

“It’s infuriating for those living in the local communities in the National Park to see this kind of behaviour on their doorstep and it’s incredibly frustrating for the National Park Authority, and in particularly our Rangers who come across these scenes, to have to divert valuable time and resources to cleaning up the mess left behind by others, especially right now when we want to be focusing all of our efforts on ensuring people can return to enjoy the National Park safely.

“The message is clear, people should not be camping right now and we are working extremely closely with our partners in Police Scotland to take action against this type of damaging behaviour when we need to.”

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