Hikers' Environmental Awareness of Cleanliness in the Mount Bawakaraeng Hiking Tourism Area: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

Abstract

Hiking tourism offers recreational experiences but can also create environmental pressure, particularly waste left along trails and at campsites. This exploratory qualitative study examines hikers' awareness of environmental cleanliness at Mount Bawakaraeng, Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi, through three dimensions: knowledge, attitudes and practices, and perceived supporting and hindering factors. Data were collected through field observation, semi-structured interviews with two informants, and photo documentation along the trail, and were analysed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman and Saldaña with technique triangulation. The first informant understood the ecological effects of waste on soil, water and wildlife, and reported carrying waste down and reducing single-use plastic. Both informants regarded awareness among hikers in general as uneven or insufficient and the area as not clean enough, with plastic waste mentioned; this perception is consistent with photographs showing scattered litter beside the trail, which are treated as visual indications rather than measured evidence. The informants attributed the problem mainly to limited understanding and awareness, and proposed pre-climb briefings, warning signs, rule enforcement with sanctions, and zero-waste practices. The findings suggest that individual awareness is necessary but not sufficient, and needs to be supported by education and enforcement at the destination. Because only two informants were involved, the findings are preliminary and not generalisable.