人們蜂擁到英國的河流和湖泊游泳
When the weather is hot, nothing feels quite so wonderful as submerging oneself in cool water. So it should not come as a surprise that Britain's waterways are filling up with overheated humans looking for a chance to cool off this summer. With public pools still closed, due to the coronavirus, and many beaches overcrowded or too far to access easily, rivers and lakes have suddenly become hot spots for "wild swimming."
天氣熱的時候,沒有什么比把自己泡在涼水里更美妙的了。因此,今年夏天,英國的水道里擠滿了尋求降溫機會的過熱人類,這也就不足為奇了。由于冠狀病毒的影響,公共泳池仍處于關閉狀態(tài),許多海灘過于擁擠,或距離太遠,難以進入,河流和湖泊突然成為“瘋狂游泳”的熱點。
People escape from the heat by swimming in the River Medway as record temperatures of 28.6 degrees centigrade are registered elsewhere in England, on August 26, 2019.Leon Neal / Getty Images
The BBC reports that many people are exploring Britain's "blue spaces" for the first time: "The Canal & Rivers Trust, British Canoeing, the Outdoor Swimming Society and the Angling Trust all report a surge in interest during lockdown and after the easing of restrictions began." In some places, visitors have outnumbered local residents 28 to one.
英國廣播公司(BBC)報道稱,許多人第一次探索英國的“藍色空間”:“運河與河流信托基金會、英國皮劃艇協(xié)會、戶外游泳協(xié)會和釣魚信托組織(垂釣信托)都表示,在禁飛期間和放松限制開始后,興趣大增。”在一些地方,游客的數(shù)量超過了當?shù)鼐用竦?8倍。
Adding to the complexity of the problem is the fact that most UK waterways (95%) are privately owned. Landowners own the riverbank, as well as into the center of the river, which means that anyone swimming through is technically trespassing. There is no English (or American) equivalent of Scotland's famous 2003 "right to roam" rule, which allows people to roam over privately-owned land and water because "the public's right to nature supersedes the landowners' right to exclude them." In Britain, unless you have permission to be in or on the water, you're likely breaking the law.
使問題更加復雜的是,英國大部分的水路(95%)都是私有的。土地所有者擁有河岸和河中心,這意味著任何游過這條河的人嚴格來說都是非法侵入。蘇格蘭2003年頒布的著名的“漫游權”規(guī)定允許人們在私有土地和水域上漫游,因為“公眾對自然的權利取代了土地所有者排除他們的權利”,英格蘭(或美國)沒有類似的規(guī)定。在英國,除非你得到準許,否則你很可能觸犯了法律。
Many people would like this to change, hence a campaign to open waterways to the general public that's currently being reviewed in parliament. Amendments to the Agriculture Bill seek to "encourage farmers and landowners to allow the public better rights of access to rivers [and] it could see those who allow that access qualifying for government funding."
許多人希望改變這一現(xiàn)狀,因此一項向公眾開放水道的運動正在議會進行審議。農(nóng)業(yè)法案的修正案試圖“鼓勵農(nóng)民和土地所有者允許公眾更好地進入河流,[并且]可以看到那些允許進入河流的人有資格獲得政府資助。”
There is debate over what this would do to wild waterways. Obviously there would be many happy individuals who could now dip, paddle, and float without fear of repercussion; but with increased numbers comes increased damage. Humans can be a nasty bunch, generating enormous quantities of trash and contaminating sensitive waterways with their sunscreens and hair products. Then there's the issue of human waste, when people are spending hours hanging out in the wilderness without bathroom facilities; this isn't an issue when it's just a few individuals, but if a crowd gathers it does become a problem.
關于這將對野生水域造成什么影響,存在著爭論。很明顯,會有許多快樂的個體,他們現(xiàn)在可以下水、劃槳和漂浮而不害怕反射;但是隨著數(shù)量的增加,傷害也隨之增加。人類可能是一群討厭的家伙,產(chǎn)生大量的垃圾,用他們的防曬霜和護發(fā)產(chǎn)品污染敏感的水道。然后是人類排泄物的問題,當人們在沒有衛(wèi)生間的荒野中消磨數(shù)小時時;當只有少數(shù)人的時候,這不是問題,但如果一群人聚集在一起,這就會成為一個問題。
For those people fortunate enough to visit wild swimming spots, it's important to understand a few basic rules that will help preserve the spot and lower one's impact.
對于那些有幸參觀野生游泳區(qū)的人來說,了解一些基本規(guī)則是很重要的,這些規(guī)則將有助于保護這個地方,并降低自己的影響。
1.Follow the 7 principles of Leave No Trace, which include disposing of waste properly and leaving what you find. Women, consider buying a Kula cloth to avoid leaving toilet paper behind.
遵循不留下痕跡的7個原則,包括正確處理廢物和留下你找到的東西。女性可以考慮購買一種庫拉布,以避免留下衛(wèi)生紙。
2. Consider not sharing pictures on social media, and certainly not geo-tagging the location, in order to prevent overcrowding. I wrote several years ago, "Geotagging specific locations on social media remains a faux pas, as it can spell destruction."
考慮不要在社交媒體上分享照片,當然也不要在地理位置上標注位置,以防止擁擠。幾年前我寫道:“在社交媒體上給特定地點標上地理標簽仍然是一種失禮行為,因為它可能會帶來破壞。”
3. Avoid wearing chemical-based sunscreens, body oils, antiperspirant, and leave-in hair products that could wash off into the water and harm fragile ecosystems – and never, ever use soap to wash your body in a lake or river, even if it claims to be biodegradable soap.
避免使用含化學成分的防曬霜、身體油、止汗劑和殘留在頭發(fā)中的產(chǎn)品,這些產(chǎn)品會被沖洗到水中,損害脆弱的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。永遠不要在湖泊或河流中用肥皂清洗身體,即使它聲稱是可生物降解的肥皂。