Local Volunteers combat Plastic Pollution

28 November 2024

Conservation, Government

Local walking group 'Walkie talkies' recently hiked to Shelly Beach on the Mars Bay Nature Reserve. Once there, they noted a significant volume of litter had washed up on the beach from the strong southerly currents. The following weekend, armed with equipment as a legacy of the Biodiversity Challenge Funds plastics project (DPL00010), the group successfully removed 39.2kg of marine debris!

The AIG Conservation team counted through the waste and recorded 1024 water bottle caps, 234 other plastic caps, 879 hard plastic fragments, 68 plastic containers, 234 water bottles, 18 cigarette lighters, 105 foam fragments, 22 lollipop sticks, 5 shoes and 7 flip flops!

With the Ascension Island MPA encircling 200miles of ocean around the island, this litter has travelled a significant distance to arrive on our shores.

We are incredibly grateful to local volunteers for giving up their time to conduct this clean, protecting our native biodiversity from plastic pollution!

Local Volunteers combat Plastic Pollution

28 November 2024

Ascension Conservation