Our annual west coast event is fast approaching and it’s shaping up to be another really successful campaign for Tangaroa Blue Foundation!! For those of you who missed the official WA Beach Clean-Up report for 2020, here is a snapshot of the key successes. We hope to increase our impact this year and keep building on these numbers. Thank you to everyone who has participated in this event so far and for your interest again this year.
This year’s WA Beach Clean-up saw over 80 groups adopt a coastal or estuarine site across the State, engaging 783 volunteers in local action. The clean-ups ranged from small one-person clean-ups to big ones like the 70 awesome people who took part in the South Beach clean-up, pictured above.
Tangaroa Blue and AMDI partners are so very close to removing and identifying a staggering 17 million items of litter from oceans and waterways around Australia through community clean-ups over the last 16 years, and we couldn’t have done it without you all!
Read more “17 Million Pieces – A Tribute to Heidi and all of YOU!”
The 2019 WA Beach Clean-up marked the 15th year of this special event in the Tangaroa Blue Foundation calendar, with support from Keep Australia Beautiful WA. Hundreds of people from across the community spent over 2,638 volunteer hours participating, from dedicated environmental groups to workplace teams, businesses, and groups of families and friends.
Since 2004, on and around the middle weekend of October, beaches, estuaries and coastal areas across Western Australia have been cleaned up and vital data entered into the Australian Marine Debris Database to contribute to understanding, monitoring, and managing marine debris. In 2019, beaches from the Anjo Peninsula Beach, Mungalalu in the north of the state to Kanidal Beach near Cocklebiddy on the southeast coast; to wild coastal tracks and easy to access metropolitan beaches were included in the project.
Tangaroa Blue Foundation (TBF) encourages a whole-of-landscape approach for addressing the marine debris issue. Different regions have different sources of debris and therefore different approaches to management will be appropriate. This year, data has been categorised according to land or sea sources for beaches that are either near to or far from built-up areas and for inhabited and uninhabited islands. By considering the litter and waste processes occurring across the whole landscape, more effective strategies can be developed.
For more information, download and read the full report.
Calling all ocean lovers – the 2020 WA Beach Clean-up event registration is now open!
Now in its 16th year, this special event in the Tangaroa Blue Foundation calendar is open for registration and seeking your assistance.
If you are a keen citizen scientist, a school or community group, part of a family or workplace team or just love the ocean and want to help out, we need you for the WA Beach Clean-up!
Last year, over 1,000 volunteers from families, community, school and business groups registered to participate. These included one-person clean-ups to large groups of all ages at 110 sites across the State, from the remote Banjal Beach in the north Kimberley to Kanidal Beach on the South Coast.
Can you help us make 2020 our biggest event ever?
It costs nothing to participate and all materials, volunteer insurance, and logistical support is provided.
Register now and get involved – just follow these four easy steps:
Step 1: Choose a favourite beach, river, or waterway that needs a clean-up and register your site by clicking here.
Step 2: Enlist your friends, family or workmates to help for a few hours at your clean-up site sometime over the October 10-11 weekend.
Step 3: Await your clean-up and data recording kit delivery (late September – early October) and follow the advice to get your team ready for action!
Step 4: On the day, collect and audit marine debris, record data for upload later or use the AMDI data app to record directly into the Tangaroa Blue Australian Marine Debris Initiative Database.
Contact: Maureen Maher 0429 378 379 E: wabcu@tangaroablue.org
The 2020 WA Beach Clean-up is supported by Keep Australia Beautiful WA, Johnson Ohana Foundation, Ocean Conservancy, Gage Roads Brewery, Onya, Sun Butter, and the Plastic Free Foundation.
