City invites residents to join 2024 International Coastal Clean-up

15 September 2024

Coastal clean-up initiative at the Helderberg Marine Protected Area along Strand Beach on International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) Day, Saturday 21 September 2024

‘Marine Protected Areas, such as the Helderberg MPA, are especially important no-take zones that aim to conserve coastal biodiversity, such as the near threatened African Black Oystercatcher, so I am very encouraged that we will be focusing our efforts on this stretch of our coastline next Saturday. The ICC is a call on Capetonians to play their part in caring for our beautiful coast and contribute to the world’s largest database on marine debris. We can all lend a hand to ensure that this beautiful stretch of coastline is kept in the most pristine condition possible,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

Join the City of Cape Town; Helderberg Ocean Awareness Movement; Shark Spotters; Strand Neighbourhood Watch; Interwaste and others at this fun event where participants may even win a spot prize from local participating businesses.

Residents are reminded to please record the litter collected on the Litter Logga - Apps on Google Play or LitterLogga on the App Store (apple.com) so that we can track our impact.

ICC is a global citizen science initiative, established in 1986 by Ocean Conservancy when local communities rallied together to collect and document the litter found on their beaches. Over the years ICC has grown worldwide. Globally in 2023, 482 150 volunteers removed 3 178 837 kilograms of waste from 26 145km of coastline.

Here in South Africa, Sustainable Seas Trust and Plastics SA have spearheaded the rollout of ICC with many volunteers collecting and documenting marine debris and plastic pollution along our coastline and waterways. Plastic pollution is a huge problem, but even small actions can make a positive impact on preserving the ocean, which makes up about 70% of our planet and is home to diverse lifeforms.

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office