As part of the recent MATZ Resilience training camp, us Mentors undertook the park rangers’ duties along the beaches of Innes National Park. These duties were – fox baiting, Hooded Plover surveying, and clearing the beaches of litter. Although the beaches were stunning (silken sand, crystal clear waters, rolling dunes, and scattered islands dotting the ocean), walking along them in 30 degree heat, while wearing jeans, sinking into the sand each step of the way was hard work. But the most disheartening aspect of these walks was the amount of litter from all across the world that had found its way to the shores of this national park.

Walking along the beaches, we found plastic and glass bottles, patches of rubber, multiple individual thongs, large chunks of foam, ropes and micro-plastics of all kinds. Perhaps our most impressive find was a massive tangle of coiled ropes and broken buoys that must’ve weighed at least 8kg. This particular item was dragged along 4km of beaches – shared between the different members of the MATZ team.

In total, we collected 19.5kg of hard plastics, 10.6 kg of general rubbish, and 0.6 kg of soft plastics. Seeing the amount of litter found even here – far from the nearest urban centre – really drove home just how choked in garbage the ocean truly is. As YATZ members, it is our responsibility to spread awareness of these issues, and to speak for environment that cannot.

Mollie

MATZ Member