The concept “Leave No Trace” originated from the US in 1960s-70s when people started their outdoor hobbies such as hiking, trail trekking and camping in the post-war period. The increase of countryside visits led to growing disturbance to the natural environment. Not only were the ecology and habitats disturbed, historical heritage and soils were damaged in different extents.
Therefore in 1980s, the US government, scholars, organisations for conservations and hiking launched the “Leave No Trace” campaign to educate the public the value of respect to the nature and to promote minimisation of negative impacts brought by leisure activities to natural habitats. The seven principles of “Leave no Trace” are:
Maintain natural beauty of trails and minimise impacts to natural habitats and indigenous culture while satisfying different recreational needs and reasonable uses: