For all those whose summer vacation is still to come: don’t get caught up in the trend of piling stones. You’ll protect the animal world. And we’ll show you why.
In recent years, environmental researchers have raised the alarm about the popular practice of stacking stones on top of each other. It may seem like nothing more than a harmless trend. But piling up stones on beaches and in forests endangers biodiversity.
“Stone piling is becoming increasingly popular due to the growth of adventure tourism and social media. Today, rock piles are 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 Taoist cultures. In America, it is performed at sacred sites, as well as in the Celtic culture of Ireland and Scotland. It was also used as a means of demarcating territories and country roads.
So what’s so wrong with stacking stones?
For starters, the traditional practice used to be done sporadically. Nowadays, the opposite is true: it is carried out en masse in the same place. And the more people pile up stones, the more people get the idea to do the same.
Because here’s 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,” according to the same group of scientists. And this in turn damages the natural balance of the food chain in these places. With unpredictable consequences.
Researchers are now 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 CSIC (the largest public research institution in Spain) researcher Anna Traveset.
So, leave the stones where they are and the wildlife will thank you!