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What is Trek It Clean - Kinabalu ? |
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Alert ! Our national pride, Mount Kinabalu is starting to show signs of
litter. This phenomenon was noticed by one of the climbers who went up the Mountain
recently in April 2001. Based on this observation, a voluntary group is now
organizing a project with the hope of increasing public awareness as well as to propose
"tools" to the authorities to further inculcate responsibility to visitors to
keep the Mountain in its pristine condition.
After much consideration, the group came out with a project name Trek It
Clean - Kinabalu ( TICK ) to deliver the message that all
individuals visiting Mount Kinabalu are responsible to keep the Mountain free of litter.
Conscious individual effort will keep our Mount Kinabalu cleaner, healthier and
would be far more effective than dedicated teams engaged to clean the Mountain.
Therefore the project also has a Tag Line, World's Heritage - Our Responsibility.
The tag line is meant to remind the individual that since Kinabalu Park was
declared a World Heritage Site in 2000, the newly conferred status brings with it not only
privileges but also a certain degree of pride and extra responsibility. The word
HERITAGE is particularly important as it connotes that this Mountain of ours is for future
generations to enjoy. Thus, we should take up the role as the "guardians"
of this beautiful wonder of nature.
Some may argue that the situation in Mount Kinabalu is hardly worth a mention
compared to cases in some other world's most treasured assets such as Mount Everest.
The highest mountain in the world was sadly described by Mr. Bary Bishop 37 years
ago as "The World's Highest Garbage Dump" due to the enormous amount of trash
left behind by the climbers who sought to conquer this majestic Mountain.
Since 1992, cleanup expeditions are done yearly to clear Mount Everest of the
trash. It is a projected that the Mountain shall be reasonably free of litter by
2003. The budgets for these expeditions run into hundreds of thousands of US
dollars.
Apparently, Everest is not the only great mountain to suffer the impact of
climbers. Cleanup expeditions are also being conducted in the Karakoram Mountains
(Pakistan), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Aconcagua (Argentina) to name a few.
Prompted by the above examples in addition to the following facts : |
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1. |
Mount Kinabalu is definitely more accessible to a greater number of
visitors than those sites mentioned above, |
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2. |
Mount Kinabalu has been receiving record numbers of visitors year
on year, |
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3. |
More visitors mean more trash, |
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4. |
Mount Kinabalu's environment is just as fragile as all the other
cases mentioned above; |
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we are urged to take action now while the situation in
Mount Kinabalu is still salvageable. Hence the project TICK is
aimed at conserving the Mountain before it comes to an undesirable condition.
TICK comprises a group of 30 volunteers who shall undertake to
climb and clean Mount Kinabalu on the 25th of August 2001 at their own expenses. It
is to be said that there will be no possibility of achieving a total cleanup of the
Mountain. The group's action remains symbolic with the aim of disseminating the
message of environmental conservation to the public.
As a medium-term plan, the group also intends to put forth ideas to the authority
to help inculcate responsible visitors to Mount Kinabalu. Among the ideas are : |
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1. |
Environment CASH deposits |
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some authorities have implemented this where a sum of money is
deposited and only returned if evidence is shown that the visitor has not left rubbish |
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2. |
Incentives / Recognition |
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some authorities have rewarded / recognized individuals who make it
a point to keep the mountains clean on their visits. The incentives / recognitions
initially proposed would be in the form of special badges and / or extra stamp on climb
certificate |
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Hopefully this project will succeed in raising public
awareness on the environmental issue and that more individuals will take on a proactive
attitude to keep our environment clean for not only ourselves but also future
generations. Mount Kinabalu as one of the World's Heritage Sites and our national
pride is a good place to start. |
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Last updated 1 August 2001 |
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