ASHLEIGH PRICE
BeachCare volunteers of all ages were out in force this weekend, making a difference on Gold Coast beaches in the spirit of Sustainability Week.
The event kicked off at 9am on Saturday, at Lacey’s Lane, Palm Beach, where volunteers got busy planting native plant species, removing invasive weeds and picking up litter on the designated site.
BeachCare Coordinator, James Gullison said that Gold Coast beaches have suffered the consequences of development along our coastline. He said that organisations like BeachCare work to prevent sustainable beach dunes from disappearing altogether.
“If you look at what we’ve got here, we have more than 30km of coastline. Rainbow Bay to the Spit, is all developed, so unfortunately in terms of our natural resources, in terms of dunes, we don’t have many left,” Mr Gullison said.
“We’re here to regenerate and replant where we can, try get these back to their natural state,
“Our role is to basically get it to a place where it’s self-sustainable.”
Volunteering and community involvement is crucial for organisations like BeachCare. For James, it’s seeing the regular faces and community commitment that is the best part of holding these events.
“It’s definitely the community involvement, especially places like Palm Beach, we get regular faces that come to events all the time. It’s good to see that they really do have some stewardship on their own beaches.” Said Mr Gullison.
Surfrider Foundation spokesperson, Chris Butler, , was among the many volunteers at Lacey’s Lane on Saturday morning. Mr Butler spoke of his history with the Palm Beach site and said that everybody has a responsibility to give back.
“I actually planted these Pandanus here about 15 years ago, so I guess I started it,” Mr Butler said.
“About 5 years ago, we approached BeachCare and asked if they would like to sponsor us to continue this site and plant and regenerate and sustain the area,”
“I think all up, and I’m not sure of this, we’ve probably planted around 500 various types of plants in here,
“We’re so lucky to have this and we should maintain it, everybody should give back.”
BeachCare sites are situated all over Gold Coast, including sites at Labrador, Broadbeach, Tallebudgera and Tugun, with more planting days scheduled regularly until the end of the year.
Visit http://www.griffith.edu.au/beachcare for more information on how you can get involved.