I didn't really see any signs of damage to the countryside. A fair bit of the route is over well defined paths and some roads, although pretty rough and steep in places. There's a really hard slog along a disused railway track, before you trek off into the heather, but people walk singly along sheep trails, so nothing is damaged. And in the bog section you hop between the tussocks which spring back up after you've passed, so no real damage there. When you are in open moorland you trek along stony rocky sheep tracks, so I don't think walkers would cause any damage to the environment.
Yes I'm looking forward to wearing my coffin badge with pride