Stone-stacking: cool for Instagram, cruel for the environment | Patrick Barkham

From Orkney to Australia, adventure tourism and social media are turning a benign impulse into a plague on the natural worldThey stand by the sea at Lindisfarne. You'll find them in the glens of Skye, in Slovenian gorges, on the peaks of Chamonix, Barbadian beaches, American national parks and Australian creeks. Stacks of stones, miniature monuments made by enraptured visitors and photographed for posterity are tiny tributes to human industry, our desire to make a mark, and our deep love of special places. But what appears a completely benign form of play in the natural world has become a plague.Is there ever a right place? I'd say yes. Below the high-tide line on a well-visited beach, it's harmless and ephemeral Continue reading...