Durness recycling group holds out hope of coastal ranger service returning with prospect of new funding
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A pioneering beach ranger service which saw tonnes of marine plastic waste and other rubbish cleared from beaches in north west Sutherland over the last three years, could be revived.
Durness based environmental group Plastic@Bay has held out hope that the initiative could possibly resume in 2022 on an even bigger scale than before, thanks to the prospect of new sources of funding.
The marine recycling group announced in November that it was being forced to end the seasonal coastal ranger service because it could no longer fund it.
At the time group co-founder Dr Julien Moreau, a bio-scientist, described the decision as “heartbreaking” and said the service was “one of the most important tools available to combat plastic pollution in north west Scotland and beyond".
He also said he hoped somebody would step in to take over the role and even expand it.
Now in its annual report posted on its website on December 30, the organisation has revealed that talks are under way with some big players.
The report reads: "In its form and in the situation Plastic@Bay is in, it is not suitable either for us or a potential ranger.
“However, we are in discussions with national and international actors to make the coastal ranger service a bigger institution with new sources of funds and a wider target.”
It continued: “There are probably millions of tonnes of plastic to be collected in the east and north of Scotland, it is time that we up the game.
“To achieve this objective, we need to associate with a lot of people so that a real impact could be felt in our coastal environment."
Plastic@Bay started out in April 2017 by organising annual beach cleans for Surfers Against Sewage.
The group cleared discarded plastic from some of the most stunning, but hard to reach, beaches in Scotland. Dedicated Dr Moreau has even abseiled more than 120 feet just to remove plastic waste from remote beauty spots in Sutherland.
Marine plastic pollution washed up on local beaches is recycled into useful objects for resale, such as clocks.
Plastic@Bay kickstarted the groundbreaking beach ranger project in May 2019 with the appointment of Hannah Smith, who was thought to be the country’s first ever “plastic ranger”.
A ranger has since been employed each summer, with the help of outside funding, and the support of volunteers.
The rangers have removed the constant tide of plastic that washes up on beaches such as beautiful Balnakeil at Durness - much of it from around the world.
According to the annual report, the last ranger in post - Conor Drummond - last year collected 1.2 tonnes of plastic in an area stretching from Loch Eriboll, to the Coigach peninsula.
During the year Plastic@Bay recorded and collected more than four tonnes of plastic from 108 beach cleans.
Plastic@Bay is currently looking to help set up recycling facilities in harbours and ports to give new life to the old fishing equipment.
The group has said the initiative would “ tackle depopulation by creating permanent jobs and opportunities".
It added: “We hope that we can convince local authorities and communities that this different way of managing waste could solve a lot of issues associated with ocean pollution in Scottish coastal rural communities."
