For all those whose summer vacation is still to come: don’t get caught up in the stone stacking trend. It’s good for wildlife.
Environmental researchers have raised the alarm in recent years about the popular practice of stacking stones on top of each other. It may seem like a harmless, viral trend. But this trend is endangering biodiversity.
“Stone stacking is becoming increasingly popular due to the growth of adventure tourism and social media. Today, cairns can be found in nature parks worldwide and pose a threat to biodiversity,” wrote 14 scientists from around the world in a letter to the editor of the journal Human-Wildlife Interactions in 2020.
Historically, the stacking of stones is considered a cultural symbol. In Asia, it represents inner balance in Buddhist and Daoist cultures. In America, Ireland and Scotland, it is performed at sacred sites. It was also used as a means of demarcating territories and country roads.
What’s wrong with stacking stones?
First of all, the traditional practice used to be done only sporadically. Nowadays, the opposite is true: it is carried out en masse in the same place. The more people pile up stones, the more people get the idea to do the same.
This is the crux of the matter: endemic invertebrates such as snails, worms and crabs depend on the stones to survive. Removing the stones can expose them to external influences and predators, which in turn damages the natural balance of the food chain. With unforeseeable consequences.
Researchers are calling on the authorities to impose restrictions to prevent this practice. “In fact, this banal fashion imported from other cultures is a serious attack on the environment and the landscape of natural areas,” says Anna Traveset, a researcher at Spain’s largest public research institute, GSIC.
Leave the stones where they are and the wildlife will thank you!