MORE than 24 tonnes of debris including plastics, discarded fishing gear, old cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have been removed from the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef in 2019, thanks to the Morrison Government’s partnership with Tangaroa Blue Foundation to deliver the ReefClean project.

A report released today reported that ReefClean, which is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, ran 49 community clean-up activities and regularly monitored 33 beaches for marine debris during its first full year.

The Mackay and Whitsundays region, marine debris rubbish removal was undertaken by Eco Barge Clean Seas, Conservation Volunteers Australia and Reef Check Australia.

It’s fantastic to see volunteers and communities across the region coming together to undertake practical conservation work to preserve our environment, and I acknowledge the efforts of groups such as Eco Barge Clean Seas, Conservation Volunteers Australia and Reef Check Australia who are helping to deliver the ReefClean project.

The project is already delivering a number of positive results for our regional communities that rely on the reef and I look forward to the project continuing to achieve great outcomes.

Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said it was just one of the many ways the Morrison Government was addressing the problem of rubbish in our waterways.

“Reef Clean is a five-year $5 million project which is delivering clean-up events, site monitoring, workshops and school engagement activities to tackle marine rubbish,” Ms Ley said.

A key aspect of ReefClean is counting and recording all debris collected in the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database. This provides an opportunity to track items back to the source and identify ways to prevent them from being released in future.

To view the public outcomes report for 2019 visit www.reefclean.org