Chili Beach is located about 700km north of Cairns, within the Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park.
It is a place of incredible cultural significance and biodiversity, and is full of diverse wildlife, amazing landscapes, and gorgeous sunrises. The park is also of international significance as it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforest in Australia. However, unfortunately the beaches are heavily impacted by marine debris from locations far and wide.
In July, the Tangaroa Blue team had the privilege of being Welcomed onto Country by the Kuuku Ya’u people (including the Kungkay people and Kanthanampu people and together with QPWS and Lockhart River School we removed over 4 tonnes of marine debris!
Notable marine debris finds include:
- 620 bags of marine debris removed from the beach
- 350 kilograms of hard plastics collected
- 1 aluminium boat
- 120 kilograms of plastic water bottles removed
- 60 square metres of trawler net
- 44 kilograms of plastic bottle caps collected
- 5 tuna trackers/FADS
Over 5 days we cleaned the entirety of Chili Beach, north to south, and are incredibly thankful to the volunteers who worked tirelessly to remove all the marine debris.
This event was made possible through the support of the Queensland Government’s Community Sustainability Action grant program.
We would like to acknowledge the Kuuku Ya’u people (including the Kungkay people and Kanthanampu people) as the Traditional Owners of Kutini-Payamu National Park, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.