‘Tread carefully and leave no rubbish’ – visitors to Wales warned

‘Tread carefully and leave no rubbish’ – visitors to Wales were warned.

At the start of one of Wales’ busiest weekends, Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri (Snowdonia National Park) along with the police and local councils have released a joint statement urging people to plan their visits carefully.

The statement was also supported by Pembrokeshire National Park and the Brecon Beacons National Park.

This comes as Alwena Jones, owner of the ‘Half Way’ café on yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), told S4C News that “visitors still show a complete lack of respect for Snowdonia.”

The Park’s Sustainable Tourism Officer Dana Williams said litter was a problem in the area and has worsened since Covid-19 restrictions were in place.

She said: “It’s not a new problem for the park, and we’ve seen an increase in litter over the last year

“But we’ve also seen the number of people coming for the first time to the park, people who don’t usually visit the countryside who perhaps are not as familiar with the countryside code, and also don’t know what to expect when visiting the park, when there are fewer bins around to dispose of waste, for example.”

Please protect Eryri (Snowdonia)'s natural environment this Bank Holiday weekend.

Leave no trace of your visit. Take your litter home or use the bins provided 🚮#PlanDiscoverProtect pic.twitter.com/VYrZjvoUTW

— Snowdonia NPA (@visitsnowdonia) May 28, 2021

The park recently launched a survey asking people why they are leaving litter behind.

“We are working with Bangor University to create the survey to ask people the right questions, and we’ve also made the survey anonymous to give people the opportunity to answer the questions honestly”, said Ms Williams.

Earlier this week, First Minister Mark Drakeford asked anyone visiting Wales to take a quick Covid-19 test before travelling.

Mr Drakeford was particularly keen for people from those areas of the north of England where there has been an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases to be tested.

The variant first identified in India is believed to have led to an increase in cases of the virus in the Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside areas.