Clean Up Groote Eylandt Day 2020

Anindilyakwa Land & Sea (ALS) Rangers recently hosted the second annual Clean Up Groote Eylandt Day (CUGED).

It was a great success with 105 people on 8 Mile Beach collecting all sorts of marine debris.

Tom Lawton, Quarantine and Biosecurity Officer with ALS Rangers said the event was coordinated with support from local mining company, South32 GEMCO and drew volunteers from all of the Groote communities, as well as visiting family and friends.

‘This year we managed to ride on the wave of last year’s event which was really successful, so people were keen to head out and take part again and people had a lot of fun,’ Tom said.

‘CUGED is a feel good, outdoor, family friendly event that everyone can participate in and really make a difference, cleaning up marine debris off our beautiful beaches.’

‘There were children as young as 4 years old and our oldest participants were our retired senior rangers, Phillip Mamarika and Jennifer Yantarrnga who are in their 60s who put on their old uniforms and hit the beach to show everyone how it’s done!’

Tom said the volunteers felt a great sense of achievement after seeing the large amount of rubbish collected.

‘The attitude was positive, but there is always that mixed emotion where you see people really starting to think about the harsh reality of marine debris and ocean plastics,’ he said.

‘If a group of 105 volunteers can collect that much rubbish in under 2 hours on 6 km of coastline, how much rubbish is there in the ocean and along the rest of the east Arnhem coastline?’

The ALC Rangers and ladies from the Anindilyakwa Art Centre sorted through the debris and recorded:

• 4,673 plastic bottle tops
• 2,759 plastic bottles
• 883 thongs (406 left, 397 right + spare parts)
• 527 plastic cigarette lighters
• 405 floats
• 251 squid jigs
• 119 glass bottles
• 118 tooth brushes
• 55 rolls of tape
• 47 metal containers/gas bottles
• 4 ute loads of ghost nets and rope

The plastic based products are recycled where possible through East Arnhem Regional Council’s recycling program, and up-cycled by the Anindilyakwa Arts.

They turn them into all sorts of amazing installations, including Maicie Lalara’s monster fish (fish made of marine debris) which is currently touring Australia.

During the dry season, which brings the southeasterly trade winds, ALS Rangers need to perform this type of work on a weekly basis, on all the islands that make up the archipelago.

Tom said the amount of rubbish is not decreasing and the type of debris doesn’t really change.

‘Unfortunately we still find marine life entangled in nets,’ he said.

‘Most recently a juvenile hawksbill turtle was rescued out of a ghost net on Picnic Beach. It’s concerning to see this much plastic on our beaches and the effect that it would be having on so many marine animals.’

Through a combination of the Ranger and Arts program, they are trying to spread awareness of the global issue of marine debris.

‘We have used our Facebook page to post stories about marine debris and the work the Rangers do cleaning it up,’ Tom said.

‘Those posts have attracted the attention of the media which has helped create more awareness.’