Beach clean-ups yield tonnes of rubbish
IN A BID to take action against the widespread littering and garbage dumping problems at Chlorakas beach, residents yesterday organised a beach cleaning campaign to raise awareness and collected 40 bags of rubbish in the process.
“People come and throw garbage everywhere. We get people passing in cars that throw rubbish from their windows, fishermen who come to fish and leave litter behind and so on. It is a matter of attitude and that has to change,” said Andrers Rosen, a Chlorakas resident.
Approximately 20 people participated in the beach clean-up, which is considered a good turnout as the idea for the clean-up came just two days earlier.
“Everyone living here wants this problem to go away and we are trying to do something. We spoke to the local authority about organizing a competition at schools where children can come up with the best solutions to clean up Cyprus. We have to start with the children,” Rosen said.
Rosen said garbage dumping at Chlorakas beach was a year-round phenomenon exacerbated in the summer months, when people come closer to the sea. The widespread littering and garbage dumping problem could affect Cyprus’ image as a quality tourist destination who are not impressed when they see an area of spectacular natural beauty destroyed by littering.
“Because of the credit crunch people are thinking ‘what can I do to get my money’s worth?’. And as Cyprus is more expensive than Turkey and other nearby destinations, it would be a great surprise to tourists if it was clean,” he said.
“Cyprus is marketed as the island of love and music, but when you look closely it is full of garbage,” he added.
Earlier in the week Episkopi Turtlewatch, said they had collected 500 sacks of rubbish, several barrels of potentially toxic waste, and a dead turtle during a clean-up last Saturday at Curium.
It was the sixth dead turtle to wash ashore in the Episkopi area so far this year.
“This is an unfortunate but timely reminder of exactly why we undertake such cleans. Every year many turtles die as a result of entanglement in marine debris while others mistakenly ingest plastic items believing them to be jellyfish,” said Linda Stokes, co-ordinator of the beach clean-up.
“By undertaking such high-profile clean-ups the Episkopi Turtlewatch volunteers hope not only to remove the litter but also to encourage people using the beach to dispose of their litter responsibly,” Stokes said.
Over 100 volunteers participated in the Curium clean-up, including representatives of the St John Ambulance, the SBA Police and children from the Episkopi Primary School. The next major beach clean-up will take place on May 16 at Paramali Long Beach with funding from the divers charity Project AWARE Foundation International.
Episkopi Turtlewatch is a volunteer organisation which aims to help conserve loggerhead and green marine turtles on the beaches between Limassol and Paphos on the south coast of the island. Both species are classified as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (ICUN) and both nest on beaches in the Episkopi area.
For more information visit www.episkopiturtlewatch.com or email [email protected]
