"The waste will wait for you when you return" — park rangers launch clean‑ups on Šar Mountain
Rangers say littering near glacial lakes, shelters and springs forced ad hoc clean‑ups; public urged to carry out their own waste.
Rangers and staff of Šar Mountain National Park have carried out a series of extraordinary clean‑up actions in recent days after the amount of scattered litter at the park’s most visited spots reached an alarming level.
Park authorities: collecting trash is not our primary duty
The park’s administration stressed in a statement that garbage collection is not the primary responsibility of park rangers, whose main tasks are protecting nature, monitoring the area and preventing illegal activities. Park officials also explained why they avoid placing waste bins on the mountain: food remnants attract wild animals and upset the ecosystem.
Visitors and hikers have been leaving trash even in hard‑to‑reach places — beside the shores of glacial lakes, around mountain shelters, and near springs and water taps. Because the park is a small institution with limited personnel, officials appealed to mountaineers, clubs and nature lovers to bring an extra bag on their trips and help remove litter.
In their appeal the park repeated a direct request to visitors: "The rule in nature is simple: everything you could bring to the mountain full, you can return empty with you. Pack up your waste and take it to a place where there is an organized collection system. The mountain has no municipal service."
Park staff say they have been forced to organise ad hoc clean‑ups on the most frequented trails and recreational spots, collecting bags of waste left behind by careless visitors. The campaign aims to reduce immediate environmental harm, while the park continues to ask the public to change habits and take responsibility for their own rubbish.
The administration concluded with a pointed message for those who abandon rubbish in nature: "And to those who leave their waste in nature we have a simple message: the waste you leave behind today will likely be waiting for you in the same place when you return. The mountain does not clean itself. Leave nothing behind except the traces of your footsteps."
Photo: press material from the event
