Mnweni Marathon

For a full album of what we found at the top of Tugela and close by. Pop over to this album on FB.

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10157061667136524&type=3

Hanno wrote:
What concerns me is the issue of pollution and litter. I have spend the last three years actively cleaning up mountains, rivers and beaches, highlighting the problem and campaigning for societal changes. The trail running events I am involved in started going cupless three years ago and keep on striving to make progress on the waste aspect of events.

What is alarming is that the pink cotton markers is seemingly the biggest pollution concern on the mountain,

First up - great effort on cleaning up the rubbish from the Tugela source region. Good on you Hanno.

With regards to the Mnweni marathon markers, I do think there is a difference between institutions littering and individuals littering. The difference is simple. Once institutions like KZNTR are seen to be littering and polluting, it unlocks permission for individuals to litter and pollute as well. And then the problem amplifies.

What makes it worse in the case of KZNTR is that their website advertises an UNMARKED trail (so there's nothing to clear up, right?) and they charge for the event.

The littering is therefore institutionalised. Individuals can be expected to follow their lead.


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Smurfatefrog wrote:

tiska wrote:
What makes it worse in the case of KZNTR is that their website advertises an UNMARKED trail (so there's nothing to clear up, right?) and they charge for the event.

This was the original plan for September
May was meant to be marked and water tables? and all fancy, and September as normal rough way.
Then May didn't happen so September became the expensive one with frills

Sounds like KZNTR need to edit their website (kzntrailrunning.co.za/races/mnweni-marathon/) from:

"The 40 km trail will be unmarked"
to:
"The 40 km trail will be semi-permanently marked"

This edit will only take them a minute.

Does anyone else feel that the guys running the show at Mnweni Cultural centre should also be holding themselves accountable as custodians of the Mnweni?

They should be expecting a standard to be adhered to by organisations that want to use the area for events. It is their responsibility also. They are the guardians of this area and their values for the wilderness(if you can still call it that) should be reflected in the way they manage the area.

I may be wrong, but locals from MCC were probably hired to do the cleanup of markers. It should be within the event organisers sop's to follow up on this regardless but also the guys at Mnweni should have the integrity and respect for their area to do the job.

It seems you can go do whatever you want at Mnweni at the moment regardless of environmental impact. You can have large trail races. You can overnight hike an entire grade of school kids(have heard of the local guides doing this). You can probably get away with riding whatever contraption you want as far as the terrain will allow you also. Who cares....so long as it creates employment. Whatever happened to maximum group sizes of 12? I see this routinely being disregarded by tour guides, race organisers and certain clubs. The rule certainly is not enforced or maybe even known about at Mnweni due to its not being within KZN wildlifes management. You see the same thing happening at the Chain ladders area and sadly more often in Ezemvelo managed areas also. Tsk tsk!

Everyone must have equal privilege of grand selfies! Tsk tsk! I digress'

I don't profess to understand the dynamics of the running of Mnweni Cultural Centre and am happy to be schooled on the subject.

tiska wrote:

Hanno wrote:


The littering is therefore institutionalised. Individuals can be expected to follow their lead.


.

I fully agree with you. The waste discussion is so big and complex and nuanced, but in principal I agree with you. Usually I am the one arguing your side of the coin. Organizations and corporates have a bigger responsibility to get it right. And yes, if they litter or pollute it gives permission to others to care less. Having this said, I would also like to add (usually the people I discuss these things with holds this view) individual behavior is too easily glossed over. This is especially true in wilderness areas.

The sad thing is if the custodians of the park seem to care very little for waste. This seems to be the case at Bannerman's Hut. I've reported the same situation twive over three months and had friends visit the hut and it was still the same. Talk about permission giving. It really starts in the camp itself. If you look over the little stone wall at the Giant's Castle parking area you will see litter scattered all around.

Love the line in someone's signature.

Take nothing but Litter, leave nothing but footprints... or something like that.

As far as I know that was the arrangement indeed. Local community members were recruited to clean the route of markers etc but did not materialize. This does not take away from the responsibility of the organizers who is ultimately responsible, but a more nuanced approach is needed. Probably like most things in life.

GriffBaker wrote: It seems you can go do whatever you want at Mnweni at the moment regardless of environmental impact. You can have large trail races. You can overnight hike an entire grade of school kids(have heard of the local guides doing this). You can probably get away with riding whatever contraption you want as far as the terrain will allow you also. Who cares....so long as it creates employment. Whatever happened to maximum group sizes of 12? I see this routinely being disregarded by tour guides, race organisers and certain clubs. The rule certainly is not enforced or maybe even known about at Mnweni due to its not being within KZN wildlifes management. You see the same thing happening at the Chain ladders area and sadly more often in Ezemvelo managed areas also. Tsk tsk!

The point you raise is exactly what I was getting at with my last point regarding Ntonjelana Pass (which obviously has nothing to do with Mnweni Marathon). It is one aspect of hiking at Mnweni that is super depressing for me - the amount of erosion and dongas.

Mnweni Pass isn't too bad yet, but Rockeries and Ntonjelana Pass are in shocking state. And spots like that bit just after the Nceda River where the erosion is so bad that there is barely any vegetation left. This will end badly if not managed properly.

I am a huge fan of paving of the chain ladders route - the area is a tourist trap, so take the steps that do the least damage to keep it sustainable. In Singapore, their hiking trails are mostly on raised platforms to reduce environmental damage - while this isn't practical here, we need to do something. Singapore's parks are in a remarkable state, especially with so many people passing through them daily - it does help that litter doesn't happen there (in part due to very strict laws about litter).

Even if MCC was to ban hikers, cyclists etc. from eroded passes, there is no way to stop non-hiking traffic from below and above, so erosion will only get worse if no action is taken.

Everyone must have equal privilege of grand selfies! Tsk tsk! I digress'

That sir is not a digression but cuts to heart of it.
Self indulgence and entitlement trumps responsibility these days, and to clean up after your lazy ass is just one bridge too far...that is for someone, or something, else to take care of.