{"id":35591,"date":"2024-03-19T16:52:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T15:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d3cf2def-6c60-46bf-8a4d-e3810aa36729"},"modified":"2024-03-19T17:39:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T16:39:23","slug":"instagram-is-killing-the-landscape-why-the-search-for-likes-is-destroying-our-beauty-spots","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/instagram-is-killing-the-landscape-why-the-search-for-likes-is-destroying-our-beauty-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"Instagram is killing the landscape: why the search for \u2018likes\u2019 is destroying our beauty spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media is having a profound impact on our natural landscapes. Here’s why <\/p>

By Richard Baynes\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 15:52 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Thanks to social media, once little-known hidden gems are now international attractions, enticing hordes of visitors. Are the crowds spoiling these special places? Richard Baynes investigates.<\/strong><\/p>

Aerial view of parked cars and congestion at Pen-y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

How is instagram spoiling scenic destinations like Finnich Glen?<\/h2>

The steep, soft red sandstone is blazed with green; the peaty water is like wine on the rock. We plunge over waterfalls into deep pots, swim through the slot of the 24-metre gorge, climb rough steps out and return on a faint path through quiet woods above, no one else in sight.<\/p>

\"Finnich
After trending with 21,000 Instagram posts, Finnich Glen in Stirlingshire has become inundated with tourists. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

This is Finnich Glen, my local beauty spot, 10 years ago. Fast forward to 2023. The rock and water are the same, but add booze bottles, discarded clothes and litter. More than 70,000 visitors a year now descend on the site in Stirlingshire, which has no car park, proper paths, or pavement along the busy A809. Many scramble down steps, now dangerously collapsed, wearing sandals and town wear. Rock features are smashed, woodland undergrowth trampled to mud. There have been threats to the owner, fences kicked down, trees axed, parking chaos, sheep killed by dogs, fields used as toilets.<\/p>

Talking to visitors now, I hear one main reason they come: social media.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Visits surged to Finnich Glen in 2014 when it featured in plaid-and-passion TV series Outlander, but that\u2019s not why it has become a blot on the landscape. <\/p>

Talking to visitors now, I hear one main reason they come: social media. There are 21,000 Instagram posts hashtagged Devil\u2019s Pulpit, the other name for the gorge. A picture of a smiling couple here gets 300 likes, a dramatic snap 4,000. TikTok videos of the gorge get thousands of likes; there are piles of tweets on X. Finnich Glen is being viewed by millions of people.<\/p>

Are social-media savvy tourists putting their own safety at risk?<\/h2>

Local beauty spots all over the UK, dramatic backdrops for selfies and videos, have felt the full force of sites such as Instagram and TikTok: the Trinnacles in the Peak District, Waterfall Country in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecons Beacons) National Park, Isle of Oldham Mountain Rescue Team (OMRT) is often called to what, on social media, has been named the Trinnacle Trail, a moorland route in the Peak District that takes in a remarkable three-pronged gritstone tower. <\/p>

Stunts, such as people jumping between the pinnacles, drive others to more extreme behaviour. <\/p>OMRT leader Rob Tortoishell<\/cite><\/blockquote>

On summer weekends, what was once a local secret now sees hundreds of visitors climbing the towers for selfies. Some fall off, others suffer serious spinal and head injuries on the steep approach, and some get lost on the moors.<\/p>

OMRT leader Rob Tortoishell says stunts, such as people jumping between the pinnacles, drive others to more extreme behaviour. <\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s anything to get likes.\u201d Social-media exposure itself means people tend to ignore safety, adds Siegel. \u201cThey feel a comfort knowing their friends have been there, so don\u2019t necessarily take precautions.\u201d<\/p>

So social-media exposure can kill the unwary, but will it kill the countryside? \u201cWe\u2019re on that path if we don\u2019t start thinking seriously about interventions,\u201d believes Siegel.<\/p>

Can the impact of social media selfies be managed?<\/h2>

In the Peak District, Rob Tortoishell\u2019s team has put up posters with QR codes linked to safety advice, and warning signs at dangerous points. \u201cThe only answer is education and information,\u201d believes Tortoishell. <\/p>

\"Isle
Visitors descend on the photogenic locations around the Isle of Skye. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Selfie-mad people hurtle around the Isle of Skye in a day, visiting the Fairy Pools, The Old Man of Storr, The Quiraing, Neist Point and the Coral Beach, but now, a new app, MySkyeTime, is directing them to less-busy alternatives and encourages longer stays. The new app won\u2019t stop honeypot sites being mobbed, but it can bring visitors under control, says Simon Cousins of the SkyeConnect tourism alliance. Similar apps are being considered in other parts of the country to help ease the burden on hotspots.<\/p>

Seven of the worst effected UK beauty spots<\/h2>

Here are the top hashtags that generate tens of thousands of views on social media, consequently driving up visitor numbers.<\/p>

#Darkhedges: 76,000 Instagram posts<\/h3>
\"Dark
The otherworldly tunnel, Dark Hedges. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The stunning Dark Hedges tunnel of beech trees in County Antrim featured in TV\u2019s Game of Thrones. It has since been named one of Ireland\u2019s top seven Instagram spots. The road through it became so busy, it has been closed to traffic.<\/p>

#Durdledoor: 310,000 Instagram posts<\/h3>