Whilst many were sat at home, munching on their easter eggs, a hardy bunch of nature heroes braved some windy and wet conditions over the bank holiday weekend as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s, Great British Spring Clean.

Over the weekend the clean-up crew, who had all volunteered their time, met with Kent Wildlife Trust’s Protected Area Warden, Nina Jones who had joined forces with the Thanet Coast Project at Pegwell Bay to organise two beach cleans, one on Thursday 28th March at Pegwell Bay and the other on Saturday, 30th March at Sandwich Bay.

Over the two days, 70 wonderful volunteers took part in the tidy-up across Kent’s largest protected coastal area and within the space of two hours at Pegwell Bay the team had collected a staggering 126kg of litter. The waste mostly consisted of fine pieces of plastic and fishing line, known as “dolly rope.” This is particularly problematic for marine life as it does not decompose and can be ingested by birds and fish who can also get tangled up in the netting. It also gets caught up in the precious saltmarsh habitat making it challenging to clean the bay.

On Saturday at Sandwich Bay the team filled an 8-yard skip to the brim, they found large pieces of ghost netting, plastic containers and countless numbers of dog poo bags which had been dumped on the beach.

Kent Wildlife Trust’s Nina Jones said: “The excellent number of enthusiastic volunteers made the difference; it is heart-warming that so many people are willing to put aside their time to make such a positive contribution to the community. Whilst on the one hand, it is sad to see the sheer quantity of rubbish washing up on our beaches and the thoughtlessness of those dumping dog waste bags in precious wildlife habitats, it is uplifting that so many braved the wind and the rain to clean this beautiful area – which will soon welcome shore nesting birds looking for a safe place to lay eggs and raise their chicks.

“Not only did these remarkable volunteers pick and get rid of the rubbish, but they also counted it as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s citizen science project examining the waste that is washing up on our shores. Well done and thank you to all involved.”

To find out more about this wonderful wildlife Nature Reserve visit our website.