Podyjí National Park Fed Up With Tourists: Photos Show Bushes Littered With Wet Wipes

The administration of Podyjí, Moravia's only national park, has published an unflattering photo on its website showing bushes strewn with wet wipes, accompanying it with a blunt appeal to visitors to observe basic hygiene while out in nature. According to park officials, more than half a million tourists pass through the area every year, and not all of them stop to think about the consequences of their "bathroom breaks" in the woods.

"We understand that during a full day of hiking, sometimes you need to relieve yourself. But given how many people pass through the park, we should all think about prevention and use the toilets available in nearby villages — at information centres or restaurants," the conservationists said in their statement.

Wipes That Linger in the Forest for Months

Park staff didn't mince words when addressing visitors directly. "If you really have to go in the forest, please don't leave unpleasant 'calling cards' behind. Especially in dry weather, even an ordinary paper tissue can sit in the forest for months, and nobody wants to stumble across that kind of 'still life,'" the administration stressed.

Experts advise always carrying a plastic bag so you can take your rubbish with you. If you don't have one handy, they recommend digging a shallow hole and burying the waste, weighing it down with a stone if necessary. As for hygiene products, the rule is simple: paper only — regular toilet paper or, at a pinch, a paper tissue, but never plastic-based wet wipes.

Composting Toilets Instead of Bushes

The problem of tourists relieving themselves in the bushes has plagued Podyjí for years, and park management has been actively searching for a solution. One example is the modern, self-contained toilets installed last year in the car park in the village of Čížov, from where thousands of tourists set off on hikes through the park every day.

The new toilets require no water, and the waste they collect is turned into compost — making them the first composting toilets in any of Czechia's national parks. According to the park administration, the mass "detour" of tourists into the bushes near the car park had led to soil eutrophication — a disturbance of the natural environment and a shift in plant species composition — becoming a genuine problem for the local ecosystem.

Čížov does have regular public toilets too — one at the tourist centre on the far side of the village, another at a restaurant — but neither is open around the clock. The problem was largely solved by installing Biocultus Public Max cabins, Czech-made composting toilets based on Scandinavian technology that has been used in Finland for more than 30 years but is brand new to Czechia. The cabins come equipped with solar panels that visitors can use to charge a phone or an e-bike. Since their installation, the situation has noticeably improved, although conservationists admit they can't yet cover the park's entire trail network with such facilities.

Read also: 9 Michelin restaurants in Czechia: where to find fine dining from Prague to Moravia

Source: novinky.cz