RORAIMA, a flat-topped mountain in the southeast corner of Venezuela made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his novel The Lost World, is under threat from trekkers, according to a report by Venezuela’s Central University.
The paper, drawn up over a six-month period by a team of forestry specialists, lists the environmental damage caused by some of the 3,000 hikers who climb Roraima each year.
They found that visitors had left graffiti and increasing amounts of rubbish beside the tracks that lead to the summit. Other problems include soil erosion, the removal of quartz and other mineral deposits, and areas where vegetation had been burned to make way for campsites.
Although the specialists fall short of calling for a ban on treks to Roraima, Virgilio Abreu, a spokesman for the Central University, called for more studies to be made “with a view to capping visitor numbers”.
Roraima’s cool, marshy summit, which reaches 2,810m (9,220ft), is home to species of flora and fauna, including orchids, lichen and insects, found nowhere else on earth.
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Venezuela’s National Parks Authority, which could restrict access to the mountain, is keen to maintain a balance between the demands of conservation and the economic interests of the Pemón indigenous community, whose principal source of income is providing basic accommodation at the foot of the mountain, as well as guides and porters.
Cesar Cario, National Parks Authority director responsible for Roraima, admitted that his organisation had failed to keep trekkers off neighbouring tepuys, as the distinctive table-shaped mountains are known in Venezuela. “We are monitoring the Roraima situation constantly,” he said.
Conan Doyle’s interest in Roraima was sparked when he attended a series of lectures given by the British botanist Everard Im Thurn, who was the first explorer to reach the summit, in 1884. The result was his fictional account of a mountain lost in time and inhabited by prehistoric creatures.
The UK operator Exodus, which runs occasional tours to the mountain, said that it follows guidelines “designed to make sure that everyone involved in our holidays, including ourselves, our local partners and our clients, recognises their responsibilities”.