More than thirty volunteers joined Doha Beach Clean Project in their latest outing at Simaisma Beach (Al Daayen municipality) recently. The volunteers gathered at the beach early morning and collected more than 20 sacks of assorted rubbish and litter from both the shoreline and the ecologically important mangrove habitats.
The weight of the removed litter was estimated at 250kg and included tyres that had been thoughtlessly discarded in the mangroves.
“I have been interested in environmental protection my whole life. I studied environmental management at degree level and I’m concerned about the effect human activity and carelessness is having on our natural environments,” said Casey Fleming, the Doha Beach Clean Project manager.
“While I am in Qatar I want to give something back to the community and assist where I can in improving the state of Qatar outside of my day job, which is Health Safety and Environmental Manager at Katara Projects,” added Fleming.
There is much to do in respect of educating people not to throw litter on the ground or be careless with their rubbish, and also to provide the infrastructure that allows more responsible decisions on waste management and litter control to be made by all who live in Qatar, said the organiser.
Refreshments were provided by Simaisma Resort, to help keep the volunteers hydrated during what was a successful and rewarding morning activity. Fleming especially thanked the Ramada Encore Hotel, Simaisma Resort, Chris Garrow of SH JV IDRIS and Mega Gonzales Cervantes from Sharq Village & Spa Hotel for their assistance in the activity.
In November last year, the Doha Beach Clean Project Co-ordinator Helen Gauden-Ing hosted a similar activity at the Fuwairit Beach, in partnership with Coca-Cola Qatar. Coca-Cola Qatar supplied trash bags, disposable gloves, assorted bags and refreshments to the volunteers.
The beachside waste was composed of plastic bottles, plastic containers, fishing nets, iron, toys and more. The participants also contributed in raising awareness about the problem of debris on beaches, which is recognised as a serious global problem.
Over the last three years, Doha Beach Clean Project Team has been bringing together passionate beach lovers and helping to contribute to the vision of trash-free seas. Beach clean-up is a fun and easy way to volunteer your time by helping to keep the beaches and ocean clean.
In the past, the group has organised similar beach clean-up activities at other beaches in Qatar, such as the Purple Island beach. The shores in Qatar have been under particular stress from hundreds of visitors during the weekends and holidays when locals and tourists flock to the seaside.
However, many residents have complained about the littered beaches and the municipality has issued advisories to people to not litter, encouraging them to also take part in the public beach clean-up activities such as the one organised by Qatar Beach Clean Up Project recently.
In its message, the Qatar Beach Clean Up Project encourages people visiting these beaches to keep trash bags with them. “Every time you go to the beach in Doha take two extra rubbish bags and spend a few minutes collecting beachfront rubbish. Let’s make Doha’s beaches and ocean safe for wildlife and also our children to enjoy,” says the group.
The group believes that by raising awareness about the effects that rubbish left on the beaches and in oceans has on the environment, we can start changing littering habits.