Scotland’s forestry body has called for more support in tackling anti-social behaviour after staff were abused by aggressive campers who kicked ducks, axed trees and damaged the environment.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) made the appeal after police were called to deal with a small group of young men camping at Glenmore in the Cairngorms National Park over the weekend of June 26.
Other campers witnessed the group kicking ducks, collecting deadwood from environmentally designated areas, using an axe on trees, and washing in a loch which is also designated for environmental protection.
Complaints were also made about noise and litter from the men.
Staff spoke to the group but were met with abuse.
READ MORE: Durness 'swamped' by staycation tourists 'dirty camping' say local residents
The FLS said Police Scotland officers spoke to the men but the group “put on a show of good behaviour” and then simply moved their campsite.
Damage to trees
Laura McNally, FLS’s area visitor services manager, said: “Situations such as this can be very intimidating for our staff and I have to commend our Glenmore team for dealing with this so professionally over the course of three days.
“We engaged with the group of young men on Saturday to explain why they had to move their camp and to clarify appropriate behaviours but this fell on deaf ears and was met with abuse. Further engagement met with the same response.
“Police Scotland did attend and the group seemed to comply, but simply moved their camp.
“We’ve also seen other groups put on a show of good behaviour when they have to and we continue to work closely with our local police partners to learn lessons from this event.
“Anti-social behaviour by a small group can spoil a visit for everyone else. This is the case no matter where it occurs.
“Our rangers will do what they can to manage a situation but public support is vital, especially if the rangers aren’t in the area at the time. We would encourage members of the public to call Police Scotland on 101 or use the online form.
“Concerted action raises the profile of incidents, provide Police Scotland with a detailed understanding of the issues and provide them with the intelligence they need to marshal their resources appropriately.”
Another view of the campsite
Maree Morrison, recreation ranger for FLS in Glenmore, added: “We try to offer a really great experience for visitors, and we do so by providing advice and looking out for public safety and environmental protection. This ensures that future visitors will be able to enjoy this beautiful area.
“We have a huge number of staff on site this year to help visitors who might not have visited the area before understand what ‘responsible access’ means.”
She added that “some people simply don’t understand what’s okay and what’s not”, but “most of the time it’s a great job, speaking to such a diverse crowd”.
READ MORE: Calls for action on 'dirty campers' after human waste, fires and rubbish strewn over Scotland
Police Scotland said there were no arrests in relation to the incident.
A spokeswoman said: “Officers attended at Glenmore on Saturday June 26 following reports of anti-social behaviour. A group of people were provided suitable advice.
“Officers will be carrying out additional patrols in the area this weekend and will work alongside local rangers to support their patrols and discourage any anti-social behaviour.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel