This October, our 5th Great Barrier Reef Clean-Up took place, with the Tangaroa Blue team, stakeholder and partner groups, and local community members banding together to clean-up the Great Barrier Reef coastline. There were a variety of clean-ups run, from multi-day clean-up events up in the Torres Strait to community-led events at local waterways, all focusing on removing marine debris and collecting important data to add to the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database.
Major flagship events were organised in high debris-load areas in different regions within Queensland, strategically chosen to enable the largest number of volunteers to join. We organised these major events at Elliott Heads (Burnett Mary), Tannum Sands/Canoe Point (Fitzroy), Conway Beach (Mackay/Whitsundays), Wunjunga Beach (Burdekin), Kennedy Bay (Wet Tropics), and Moa Island (Torres Strait/Cape York). This year more than 85 volunteers registered for these events, with over 1.5 tonnes of marine debris pulled off these beaches.
Additionally, we had 22 self-registered sites for beach clean-ups, meaning members of the community, stakeholders, and partners stepped up to run their own clean-up event and contribute to debris removal and data collection. There were events with as little as 2 people to as many as 90 people, all ages, and all kinds of locations from rivers & lakes to islands & bays. We are incredibly thankful to our volunteers who help us day in, day out with our beach clean-up events, and are incredibly impressed by everybody’s efforts. These events had more than 250 volunteers attend, removing just over 500 kilograms of debris from Queensland’s coastline and waterways.
A big thank you to our partners and stakeholders who got involved, either by running their own event or joining in to help clean our beaches along the Great Barrier Reef.
Reef Check Australia, Whitsunday Catchment Landcare, NQ Dry Tropics, Burdekin Shire Council, Gudjuda Rangers, Torres Strait Regional Authority, Cassowary Coast and Hinchinbrook LMAC, Cassowary Coast Regional Council, Reef Ecologic, Bundaberg Regional Council, Jabalbina Rangers, Douglas Shire Council, Cleanaway, and so many more.
Tangaroa Blue Foundation acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands and seas on which we gather for beach clean-up events.
ReefClean is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
