Green Head’ing for a cleaner future!

If you’ve visited Green Head recently, you may have noticed pristine beaches and clean roads after a cooperative clean-up took place last Thursday.

A whopping 145 kg of rubbish was collected, with approximately 55 kg removed from local beaches alone.

A total of 35 locals, visitors and staff from Green Head Coastcare, MEEDAC and NACC helped remove this gigantic rubbish load – most of which was plastic.

“It’s great to see the community coming together to tackle marine debris,” said NACC Coastal and Marine Project Officer, Hamish Longbottom.

“The Green Head community understands what impact marine debris has on the environment and why action at a local level is so important,” he said.

Dedicated members of Green Head Coastcare also followed-through with the marine debris survey developed by Tangaroa Blue Foundation.

Unsurprisingly, the survey revealed that fishing gear, such as bait bags, shopping bags and other bits of miscellaneous plastic were the most prevalent items.

Debris analysis is an important part of beach clean-ups, as they can show quantities and trends in the type and amount of rubbish accumulating in our local marine ecosystems.

“We are committed to helping community groups address this huge environmental issue and ensuring data is collected to inform decision makers,” said Hamish.

Experiencing the NACC life

Last week NACC was lucky enough to have Curtin University Coastal and Marine student Harry Wellington volunteer his time at NACC’s Jurien Bay regional office.

Harry experienced a broad range of NACC core activities including attending a workshop at the Spray the Grey Youth Festival in Jurien Bay, the Green Head Coastcare beach clean-up, and Pyp grass monitoring activities.

At Green Head, Harry was able to put his skills to work, helping to facilitate a marine debris survey with the Green Head Coastcare group, and undertaking a flora survey to monitor Pyp grass control works at Cervantes.

“It’s been really interesting getting an insight into these local issues being dealt with on a regional level,” said Harry. “It feels good to help the local community while gaining knowledge and experience regarding local issues,” he said.

If your community’s beaches require some ‘TLC’, and would like some help, please contact Hamish Longbottom at hamish.longbottom@nacc.com.au.