Our coastal clean-ups

We organize monthly coastal clean-ups around Aljezur. Usually, we include a beach as well as
the surrounding cliffs and parking areas. Apart from reducing the amount of littler in the marine
environment. We always talk about what the major sources of the litter are that we collect and
usually 70-85% of the plastic litter is related to fisheries, therefore it’s a good moment to talk
about ghost gear pollution.

Today, with ocean pollution on the rise, many are looking for ways to mitigate pollution while
increasing awareness on ocean health and anthropogenic influence on marine life.
Participatory beach clean-up evens are (scientifically) proven to increase awareness towards
marine biodiversity and conservation throughout the community while mitigating marine litter
in the area.

„Last weekend we helped cleaning our local surroundings.
We went to Praia da Amoreira, which is a beautiful sandy beach in the Costa Vicentina
Natural Park, at the mouth of the Aljezur River. The main beach is kept clean by the
municipality, so we went on a little hike to another part of the beach, while another
volunteering team went on what turned out to be a cigarette-butt hunt around the parking
area.
We were amazed. First by nature, then by Styrofoam. We’ve spend 1,5 hour an the same
square meters. Well, almost the same spot. After Pamela almost grabbed a little Scorpio, we
moved our cleaning business a bit further up the stones.
Styrofoam is used by many fishermen. Starting out as a big buoy, it’s easily falling apart after
a while into a zillion tiny balls. Which don’t degrade. Which end up in your stomach…
Nasty thoughts, but creating awareness. An educational morning in great company.
Thanks for the organization @Fishing4Ghosts .This is a great upcycling project turning the
ropes from nets and ropes that are used to retrieve the traps into beautiful products.“

Testimonial report of one of our participants