The sustainable summer camp

Perhaps you remember those summers in the eighties when you were accompanied by a backpack and a water bottle, you were taken by bus to summer camps. Camps, in most cases, created from scratch by monitors and parents, and which were generally located in the current Natural Spaces or Natura 2000 Network. The environmental impact of those camps was very similar to what could occur today, with the only difference that the regulations are now more restrictive and popular sentiment is quite different in environmental matters. Let's discuss the environmental impacts of summer camps.

What is a summer camp?

To know the environmental impact of a summer camp, we must know what they really are. If we look at the different legislation that regulates the matter in Spain, we can see the great difficulty in the definition due to the multitude of competencies relating to camps and leisure activities. Competencies, which in most cases belong to the general directorates of the different Autonomous Communities (except in the two archipelagoes) and which therefore do not offer a single definition. Looking at the definitions drawn from the Conclusions of the II Conference on Environmental Education in Leisure Time, which describes:

Camps with installation: Youth camps that have certain stable or fixed facilities in the camping area for use as dining room, bathrooms, kitchen,...

Camps without installation: Youth camps that do not have fixed structures. In this category we could include traveling camps that do not use facilities.

Based on this, in this article, we will focus on the environmental part where the different Councils with competencies in the environment intervene when carrying out these activities in the natural environment.

Environmental impact legislation in the area of camps

Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment establishes in its ANNEX II dWithin Group 9. Other projects the need to submit permanent camps for tents or caravans with a minimum capacity of 500 guests to the environmental impact assessment procedure. In this group we understand that camps without installation are included, since camps with installation could be included within the same Group under the heading of holiday housing developments and hotel facilities off-land, built up and associated buildings, meaning hotel facilities are those tourist accommodations authorized for the public with a minimum capacity of 30 places.

Environmental impacts in camps

Already included in one heading or another depending on the magnitude and type of the camp, it is now necessary to know the main environmental impacts caused by these facilities.

La Federation of Scout Associations of Spain defines very well some ideas for a sustainable camp in its Teaching guide to minimize the environmental impact of our activities in the natural environment, giving the guidelines for their actions; before, during and after the activity, with regard to energy, responsible consumption, garbage, water, etc. from the user's point of view.

However, in this case, we focus attention on planning the camp, beyond the behaviors of the campers, that is, the time when they program the rest of the phases and activities to be carried out and when basic aspects are decided, such as: the place of execution, the economic, technical and human resources required.

What should sustainable summer camp be like?

A sustainable camp must minimize environmental impacts, for which we will have to take into account various general actions and considerations related to the selection of the area, consumption, waste production and protection of the environment, as shown in the following infographic.