Forest visitor issues warning against seemingly innocent tradition: 'Stop doing that'

A TikTok is helping to change habits, as it highlights an easily overlooked but damaging trend in forests: carving into trees.

Creator Meg's Thoughts Out Loud (@megsthoughtsoutloud) shared a video that's been making the rounds for her passionate plea to stop the widespread practice of scratching names, initials, and symbols into tree bark.

@megsthoughtsoutloud #forest #trees #nature #conservation ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic - Kenji Ueda

"You are hurting that tree," Meg says in the video, pointing out dozens of carvings on a pair of trees. "... When you do that, you open up the tree to disease, to fungal infections, to insect infestations. You make the tree unhealthy by doing that. … Stop doing this."

She doubles down in the comments, adding: "When trees get 'sick,' it can also spread to other trees and hurt the whole forest in the long term."

Even the most well-intentioned outdoor lovers may not realize the impact of this seemingly harmless act. While carving into a tree might feel like a nostalgic tradition — think "A + B 4EVER" — it's more like carving into skin.

Trees depend on their bark as a protective barrier. Damaging this barrier can inhibit their uptake of nutrients, and it exposes them to disease, infection, and pests, as Meg said. Even worse, these infections can spread, threatening entire ecosystems, as Leave No Trace explained.

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Outdoor etiquette is important, and raising awareness of these unspoken rules should become standard practice. Though acts such as stacking rocks and veering off trails may seem insignificant, the environmental damage adds up in big ways when scores of people engage in them.

Commenters were quick to back Meg's message.

"Graffiti in a forest is awful," one user said.

Another added, "That tree is gonna be around way longer than y'all's high school relationships."