UKC

The Isles of Scilly is an AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty); one of its features is its clean air. Only in clean air can most lichens grow. Undisturbed, they will slowly slowly grow and grow: a 3 inch lichen may be hundreds of years old. Those tiny lichens were growing before most of our ancestors were literate, yet alone climbing Everest.
There are other protected granite areas in the British Isles: Scilly just happens to be one close to me. But, out of beautiful rocky landscapes, lichens and boulderers, only one is increasing at an exponential rate. A boulderer with a brush can destroy a unique ecosystem in seconds. Just please remember this whenever you climb. Or risk bringing this fun sport into disrepute or worse.
That's all! Thank you to everyone who didn't need this reminder, plus anyone who did!

In reply to evernight:
Interesting post, thanks!

But I'm not totally clear on what's implied. Where we climb, we deliberately remove anything growing from the holds, that is part of climbing, either a climbable rock is climbed (and its ecosystem destroyed) or climbing is prohibited so that the ecosystem can be protected.

Climbing is not prohibited by the AONB as far as I know - isn't the whole of Gogarth within an AONB?

In this case on Scilly, is climbing prohibited, but this has been flouted by boulderers? Or is it a matter of not consulting before developing a new area of climbing to find out what the reaction would be to this? Or is it an established climbing area that has already, to be frank, been sacrificed?

In reply to evernight:


Your thread title is "Please Boulderers help me solve this problem".

What problem, exactly? Could you please state the problem? Thank you very much.

In reply to evernight:

What problem are you trying to solve?

I suspect you want people to stop cleaning lichen off boulders in order to make them climbable, because the rare and fragile ecosystem is more important to you than bouldering. That's certainly a reasonable and defensible point of view, but I suspect your chances of getting boulderers to voluntarily agree with it are slim.

In reply to evernight:
I am reminded here of the caving fraternity who have strict rules controlling access to caves with fragile calcite formations. They seem to be widely respected by other cavers. Isn't this similar to bouldering on fragile lichen formations which are also ancient.

In reply to evernight:

Why do I feel it's goodnight from evernight, folks.... that we're never going to hear from him / her again....

In reply to evernight:

It's actually a fair point I suppose. Look after the lichen.

In reply to evernight:

Agree, hope you haven't built any houses roads or other stuff there as that would be hypocritical

In reply to bouldery bits:


Never mind the lichen.... what about the poor ivy at Cheddar?!

I like the OP's warning, though, "Or risk bringing this fun sport into disrepute or worse."

Troll?

There as so many non boulder-able rocks, especially those 4 foot high and under, surely this is a joke, there's plenty room for lichen AND bouldering

There is more of an argument for boulders next to popular hiking paths: the utility of the thousands of hikers/tourists seeing unique lichen, vs a convenient to access piece of bouldering.

But Scilly, not exactly the beaten track ... Anyow seems the OP has naffed off after their little joke.

In reply to Siderunner and OP:
There are quite a few very localised climbing areas in the UK where access is banned in order to protect rare plant life or lichen. Some crags in the Churnet spring to mind and also that place near Rubicon. If the OP is talking about the whole of the Scilly isles then by definition they aren't rare and, as a boulderer, I'd be fairly indignant if told to stop, but if there is a specific crag or crags with rare/protected lichen/plants that need preserving then he should be more specific and try to arrange a local access discussion. Posting roundabout lectures on UKC is completely pointless.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Eridge Green (southern sandstone) is an Site of Special Scientific Interest, and there are specific areas where climbing is forbidden (and one where climbing is permitted, but chalk is forbidden) in order to protect very rare plants -- see the access notes here:

Eridge Green Rocks

I don't know how well the agreement's observed, but at least in principle, it can be done. And bird bans usually do seem to be observed by climbers.

If there are specific areas of the Scilly Isles where rare lichens are vulnerable, then it seems important to discuss that so that they can be protected.

But it doesn't seem helpful for the OP to turn up, vaguely imply that any boulderer who brushes anything anywhere in the Scilly Isles might be "destroying a unique ecosystem", then fail to expand or clarify.

In reply to evernight:

Won't anybody think of the lichen?

I read recently that lichens grow an inch in diameter every century (or something to that effect) and that the big ones (dish size) could have seen Richard III. Well not really see, but you catch my drift. There was also some interesting details about the alga-fungus symbiosis that explained how they seem to live off nothing. The fungus dissolves the rock with acid and the alga feasts on the product of the reaction. Cool stuff.

I guess the idea is to be mindful of our environment and while we cannot achieve zero destruction, maybe it's nice to remember that there are tiny miracles of Mom Nature everywhere we go?

In reply to slab_happy:

AONB's and SSSI's are so well protected that they only allow large scale heather burning annually - oh and then pissed toffs shooting at the wildlife.

Can't beat a good bit of conservation.

In reply to drolex:


This is an oft-quoted factoid, but not really true. How come you get big colonies of lichens on the top of fence posts? On dry stone walls?

It's because they are very diverse, some do spread slowly over hundreds of years but by no means all of them.

As you say, they are really interesting things, although most peoples eyes glaze over when I go on about them.

I'm just in the process of trying to get something in the guide for Shaftoe about a one, charmingly known as Rock Tripe, which is common as muck in mountain environments, but rare in Northumberland (2 known sites) and the flipping thing is growing along just above the lip of one of the traverses

In reply to Jon Stewart:



Before deliberately removing anything perhaps there is an ethical imperative for climbers and boulderers to check they aren't destroying something rare, there is certainly a legal restriction on what one is allowed to destroy, whether it is in an AONB or not.

http://www.ukwildlife.com/index.php/wildlife-countryside-act-1981/schedule-...

In reply to JDal:

I stand corrected, very good points. I'll continue to spread this hoax though, adding that the fence posts with lichen were erected by Richard III himself.

In reply to drolex:

And don't forget the 500 year old twigs and the 600 year old rhododendron leaves