REPORTAGE
Les Bauges, a preserved natural space, with its cows, meadows and Savoyard farms, only half an hour from Chambéry ... The 100 km limit has made many people rediscover the region and for a month now, the trails have been literally taken over the weekend by hikers who continue to come in large numbers despite the removal of this measure. And they do not seem really concerned about nature and the inhabitants, as evidenced by Colette and Roland, farmers in the village of Arith in Savoie.
"That revolts me !"
"We find lots of garbage, people do their toilets one meter from the chalet," says Colette. "We are not against tourism but what we want is that they respect us!" Asks this farmer. Roland abounds by criticizing the behavior of these new hikers who do not respect their fields and the environment of Arith: "We pitch our tents anywhere, we make fire, we leave the ashes and aluminum foil in the middle of fields, we trample on the grass ... Me it revolts me! It's still private property! "
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"Rangers should be handed over"
Behaviors denounced by the local hiking committee which calls for strong measures. "In the past, there were game wardens, forest rangers. We eliminated them because it is too expensive", regrets its president Jean-Luc Petit Gas. "I think we should hand over these rangers who would have two functions: tell people that what they are doing is not right, and then if they insist, verbalize them. When we start to knock on the door - people's money, only there they understand. "
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In any case, there is an urgent need to act because the farmers in the sector, tired of seeing their fields ransacked, are seriously starting to lose patience.