Local ecologists and government authorities are urging visitors to leave well enough alone, and stop making little towers by piling up stones on island beaches.
The custom, which no one knows the origin of, seemed a minor issue for years, but under pressure of getting Instagrammable photos, more and more visitors have been piling up more and more stones. The ecologists say the practice is causing more and more damage because the rocks provide shelter for insect and reptiles and the plants they feed on and moving the rocks disrupts that.
A group whose name translates as “Leave No Traces” recently organized 150 volunteers to level the towers and restore the beach area, but within days new towers had appeared. They are now calling for legislation and enforcement to end the tower-building.
