Opinion | Editorials
Leave only footprints
It requires very little action and even less thought to take the trash home.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:04 January 25, 2008
To nature conservationists in the UAE, and even some "wadi bashers", that the countryside is littered with the evidence of previous visitors is not new. For many years concerned local governments and residents have implored the selfish members of the public to take their trash away with them after visiting the deserts. But it all seems to no avail, for now the garbage is not only increasing in proportion to the number of visitors to the desert, but it is also endangering the wildlife of the region.
Dramatic evidence from postmortems of wildlife show that plastic objects, usually bags, are ingested by the animals which either choke to death on the item or will eventually build up in the animal's stomach, from which those affected will suffer a slow and painful death.
It requires very little action and even less thought to take the trash home - you should leave the desert as you would hope to find it.
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