The clean-up crew in Seisia collected a uteload of marine debris as part of the Great Barrier Reef Clean-up 2025. Photo: Supplied.
Thousands of kilograms of marine debris have been removed from the Great Barrier Reef thanks to a mass statewide initiative targeting plastic pollution.
Almost 2500 volunteers from across the Queensland east coast got their hands dirty throughout October as part of the Great Barrier Reef Clean-up 2025, a major environmental campaign led by Tangaroa Blue and Clean Up Australia.
Of the 145 clean-up groups that participated, 57 have submitted their data to the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database. They’ve collected 44,927 marine debris items, or 2096 kilograms of debris, from local beaches, rivers and creeks.
Seisia clean-up organiser Talei Elu said her community was proud to be part of the effort in keeping the reef clean for generations to come.
“It’s all about working together and everyone doing a little bit, which has a big impact,” she said.
“I guess that’s the point of the Great Barrier Reef Clean-up month – people from all over the east coast sign up to do a clean-up one day of the month. So I’d imagine there’s been a lot of rubbish collected just in the month of October alone because of this campaign.”
Tangaroa Blue Foundation chief executive officer Heidi Tait thanked the communities involved for another successful year.
“Marine debris is one of the fastest growing threats to the Great Barrier Reef,” she said.
“The Great Barrier Reef Clean-up empowers communities to take action to remove rubbish before the wet season washes it from catchments to the reef, all while building the evidence we need through the AMDI Database to stop marine debris from reaching our waterways in the first place.
“A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated in this year’s mammoth effort to protect the reef.”
Original Article published by Chisa Hasegawa on Cape York Weekly.
