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Common sense and courtesy can go a long way when you are travelling. Think about the impact you may be having on the environment and the people who inhabit it. One very simple way of
minimizing your impact is to reduce the amount of plastic you use. Buy terracotta cups at train stations rather than the plastic ones; recycle plastic bags; try and recycle plastic drinking bottles, or purify your water.
If you are planning on taking a camel safari in Rajasthan pay particular care to how you dispose of your rubbish; safaris operating out of Jaisalmer have left an alarming trail of trash through the desert.
Finally, as exotic and tempting as they, may be, avoid buying products that further endanger threatened species and habitats.
Responsible Driving
Responsible
Trekking
Child
Prostitution
Responsible Diving
The growing popularity of diving, especially in the Andaman Islands and
Lakshadweep, makes it all the more important to observe a few rules to
minimize your impact. Help preserve the ecology and beauty of India's reefs.
Do not use anchors on reefs, and take care not to ground boats on coral. Encourage dive operators and regulatory bodies to establish permanent moorings at popular dive sites.
Avoid touching living marine organisms with your body or dragging equipment across reefs. Polyps can be damaged by even the gentlest contact. Never stand on corals, even if they look solid and robust. If you must hold on the reef, only touch exposed rock or dead coral.
Be conscious of you fins. Even without contact the surge from heavy fin strokes near reefs can damage delicate organisms. When treading water in shallow reef areas, take care not to kick up clouds of sand. Settling sand can easily smother the delicate organisms of a reef.
Practice and maintain proper buoyancy control. Major damage can be done by divers descending too fast and colliding with a reef. Make sure you are correctly weighted and that your weight belt is positioned so that you stay horizontal. If you have not dived for a while, have a practice dive in pool before taking to the reef. Be aware that your buoyancy can change over the period of an extended dive trip: initially you may breathe harder and need more weight; a few days later you may breathe more easily and need less weight.
Take great care in underwater caves. Spend as little time within them as possible as your air bubbles may be caught within the roof and thereby leave previously submerged organisms high and dry. Taking turns to inspect the interior of a small cave will lessen the chances of damaging contact.
Resist the temptation to collect or buy coral or shells. Aside from the ecological damage, taking home marine souvenirs depletes the beauty of a site and spoils the enjoyment of others. The same goes for marine archaeological sites (mainly shipwrecks). Respect their integrity; some sites are even protected from looting by law.
Ensure you take home all your rubbish and any litter you may find as well. Plastics in particular are serious threat to marine life. Turtles can mistake plastic for jellyfish and eat it.
Resist the temptation to feed fish. You may disturb their normal eating habits, encourage aggressive behaviour or feed them food that is detrimental to their health.
Avoid disturbance to marine animals. In particular, do not ride on the backs of turtles as this causes them great anxiety.
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Responsible Trekking
The popularity of trekking and mountaineering is placing great pressure on India's natural environment. Please consider the following tips when trekking and help preserve the ecology and beauty of the Himalaya and other mountain regions.
Rubbish
Carry out all your rubbish. If you've carried it in you can carry it out. Don't overlook those easily forgotten items, such as aluminium foil, orange peel, cigarette butts and plastic wrappers. Empty packaging weighs very little anyway and should be stored in a dedicated rubbish bag. Make an effort to carry out rubbish left by others.
Never bury your rubbish: digging disturbs soil and ground cover and encourages erosion. Buried rubbish will more than likely be dug up by animals, which may be injured or poisoned by it. It may also take years to decompose, especially at high altitudes.
Minimise the waste you must carry out by taking minimal packaging and taking no more food than you will need. If you can't buy in bulk, unpack small-portion packages and combine their contents in one container before you trip. Take reusable containers or stuff sacks.
Don't rely on brought water in plastic bottles. Disposal of these bottles is creating a major problem in India as in many developing countries. Use iodine drops or purification tablets instead.
Sanitary napkins, tampons and condoms should also be carried out despite the inconvenience, they burn and decompose poorly.
Human Waste Disposal
Contamination of water sources by human faeces can lead to the transmission of hepatitis, typhoid and intestinal parasites such as giardia, amoebas and roundworms. It can cause severe health risks not only to members of your party, but also to local residents and wildlife.
Where there is a toilet, please use it.
Where there is none, burry your waste. Dig a small hole 15cm deep and at least 100m from any watercourse. Consider carrying a lightweight trowel for this purpose. Cover the waste with soil and a rock. Use toilet paper sparingly and bury it with the waste. In snow, dig down to the soil; otherwise your waste will be exposed when the snow melts.
If the area is inhabited, ask locals if they have any concerns about your chosen toilet site.
Ensure that these guidelines are applied to a portable toilet tent if one is being used by a large trekking party. Encourage all party members, including porters, to use the site.
Washing
Don't use detergents or toothpaste in or near watercourses, even if they are biodegradable.
For personal washing, use biodegradable soap and water container (or even a lightweight, portable basin) at least 50m away from the watercourse. Disperse the wastewater widely to allow the soil to filter it fully before it finally makes it back to the watercourse.
Wash cooking utensils 50m from the watercourse using a scourer, sand or snow instead of detergent.
Erosion
Hillsides and mountain slopes, especially at high altitudes, are prone to erosion. It is important to stick to existing tracks and avoid short cuts that bypass a switchback. If you blaze fall and eventually cause soil loss and deep scarring.
If a well used track passes through a mud patch, walk through the mud: walking: walking around the edge will increase the patch.
Avoid removing the plant life that keeps topsoils in place.
Fires & Low Impact Cooking
Don't depend on open fires for cooking. Cutting wood in popular trekking areas can cause rapid deforestation. It's especially acute in the Himalaya. Use a lightweight kerosene, alcohol or Shellite (white gas) stove and avoid those powered by disposable butane gas canisters.
If you're trekking with a hired guide and porters, supply stoves for the whole team. In alpine areas, ensure all members have enough clothing so fires are not necessary fro warmth.
Fires may be acceptable below the tree line in areas that get very few visitors. If you light a fire, use an existing fireplace rather than creating a new one. Don't surround fires with rocks as this creates a visual scar. Use only dead, fallen wood. Remember the adage 'the bigger the fool, the bigger the fire' - use minimal wood, just what you need for cooking. In huts leave wood for the next person.
Ensure that you extinguish a fire after use. Spread the embers and douse them with water. A fire is only truly safe to leave when you can comfortably place your hand in it.
Wildlife Conservation
Do not engage in or encourage hunting. It's illegal in India's parks and sanctuaries, but even so you should refrain from killing, legal or not, any wild creatures.
Don't assume animals in huts to be nonindigenous vermin and attempt to exterminate them. In wild places they are likely to be protected by native animals.
Discourage the presence of wildlife by not leaving scraps behind you. Place gear out of reach and tie packs to rafter or trees.
Don't feed wildlife; this can lead to animals becoming dependent on handouts and increases their risk of disease.
Trespassing
Seek permission from landowners if you intend walking and/or camping on private property.
Park Regulations
Take note of and observe any rules and regulations particular to the area you are visiting
Trekking in Populated Areas
Follow social and cultural considerations when interacting with the local community.
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Child Prostitution
Since 'Anglo India' Freddy was convicted in 1996 of a number of horrific sex crimes against
children in Goa, there has been increasing acceptance in that state that child prostitution is a problem that needs to be tackled. There is now greater vigilance by police and locals and the legal procedure is now in place to deal with paedophiles. Offenders face life imprisonment in an Indian Jail if convicted. International watchdog organisation End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking (ECPAT) included Goa in a series of research papers produced for the 1996 World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
The Indian Penal Code and India's Immoral Traffic Act impose penalties for kidnapping and prostitution. In addition, the international community has responded to what is essentially a global problem with laws that allow their nationals to be prosecuted for child sex offences upon their return home.
If you know, witness or suspect anyone engaged in these activities you should report it to the police in the country you're in and again to the police when you get home.
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