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The maiden voyage of Dundrum Coastal Rowing Clubs new marine litter boat took place last Saturday 9th March 2024.

This new boat will allow for the recovery of litter in areas of Dundrum Bay that cannot be safely reached by foot. Speaking about the project funded by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. Cathal Ó hÍr from Dundrum Coastal Rowing Club said, “We are delighted to have been awarded funding for the shallow draft boat, which will allow us to carry out regular clean ups along Dundrum Bay and its four contributing rivers. This boat will provide access to areas not safely reachable from land. This will help, not only to improve the shoreline in terms of biodiversity and aesthetics, but also the health and wellbeing of our local community. We will also be able to carry out educational awareness projects demonstrating how marine litter can damage our beautiful area and how with this boat we can alleviate this harm”.

Chris Gourley, Waste and Pollutions Solution Strategic Lead at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful says, “This grant scheme is designed to reduce the environmental impact of litter on our marine eco systems. We have been delighted with the diverse range of innovative projects this year which want to tackle waste entering the marine environment as well as removing what is already there. Marine litter is a global challenge, affecting the world’s oceans, seas, coastlines and shores. A wide range of material such as plastics, metals and glass end up in our marine environments and these all decompose very slowly if at all. The most commonly found litter is plastic.”

Photo Caption: from left Orla McGrady Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, members of Dundrum Coastal Rowing Club - Cathal Ó hír, Adrian Mullan, Andrew Boyd (club chair) and Robert Graham.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful have presented Beach and Marina Operators with 14 national and 10 internationally recognised awards for excellence in facilities, environmental management, education and water quality.

The international Blue Flag will be flown at 8 of Northern Ireland’s beaches and 2 marinas to signify world class facilities and destinations. The Blue Flag is an award programme certified by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). 47 countries participate in awarding Blue Flags to more than 4000 beaches and marinas worldwide making this award accessible to local beach goers and tourists alike. Beaches and marinas with a Blue Flag are demonstrating their commitment to protecting the coastal environment, excellent water quality, safety, and access for all. Blue Flag beaches and marinas also offer environmental education activities, as an important part of the award criteria. Beaches and Marinas may only fly the Blue Flag if all the criteria are successfully met throughout the summer season.

The Seaside Award is the national standard for beaches across the UK. The standards required by this programme ensure visitors are guaranteed to find a clean, safe, attractive and well-managed coastal environment with varied levels of facilities provided depending on the location of the beach. 12 beaches have been recognised by this award and can be identified by the Seaside Award Flag or Plaque.

2 of our more rural beaches have received the Green Coast Award, which recognises an agreement between the operator and the local community to protect and promote a natural beach environment rather than developing visitor infrastructure. Green Coast Award beaches can also be found in the Republic of Ireland and in Wales, but due to their more natural state, may not be flying a flag.

Northern Ireland’s coastline has some iconic sights, and many of our awarded beaches include or are next to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty with specially protected habitats and species forming a large part of the experience visitors enjoy. The aim of these award programmes is to improve the connection between people and their surroundings by encouraging them to learn more about and spend time in their outdoor environment. Most award winning beaches and marinas provide information points to showcase the best of our wildlife and how visitors can enjoy these natural wonders without disturbing or damaging them.

Information on all the award winning beaches and marinas can be found at www.beachni.com or by picking up an Award Winning Beaches Leaflet from your nearest Tourist Information Centre.

The awards were presented on 24th May 2017, in time for the bathing season, which runs from 1st June until the 15th September each year.

Tony Wilcox, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said “Having Northern Ireland’s world class beaches managed to such high standards is helping improve the quality of our lives as well as attracting visitors. Beach operators are inspirational people showing that all of us can play our part in loving where we live. And, in most council areas, the Live Here Love Here campaign is building on this to inspire everyone to get involved in creating cleaner, greener and healthier places to live, learn and work.”

With weeks of fine weather in early May prompting hopes of a fine summer, beaches around Northern Ireland are gearing up for an influx of visitors. To help everyone find their ideal award winning beach or marina Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful have created a visitor map highlighting the facilities offered at each beach and also including suggestions for activities or attractions to make for a memorable day out. The guide will be available online, via all Tourist Information Centres, at award beaches, in larger bus and rail stations and from local councils.

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Notes to editors

For reference:

Awards Presented

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

Blue Flag

1. Cranfield West Beach

2. Murlough Beach

3. Tyrella Beach

Green Coast Award

4. Minerstown Beach

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council

Blue Flag

5. Benone Beach

6. Downhill Beach

7. West Strand

8. Whiterocks Beach

9. Ballycastle Marina

Seaside Award

10. Ballycastle Beach

11. Castlerock Beach

12. Portrush East Strand

13. Waterfoot Beach

North Down and Ards Borough Council

Seaside Award

14. Ballywalter Beach

15. Groomsport Beach

16. Millisle Beach

Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)

Seaside Award

17. Crawfordsburn Beach

Green Coast Award

18. Helen’s Bay Beach

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council

Seaside Award

19. Ballygally Beach

20. Brown’s Bay

21. Carnlough Beach

Mid Ulster District Council

Blue Flag

22. Ballyronin Marina

National Trust

Blue Flag

23. Portstewart Strand

Seaside Award

24. Portstewart Strand

For Interview:

Contact the office on 028 9073 6920 or at chris.allen@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org.

There is an average of 528 items of litter for every 100m of coast around Northern Ireland, a new report has found – that’s about five bits of litter for every step you take on some beaches. Perhaps more shockingly, this figure compares favourably against the rest of the coast of the UK and Ireland.

The report, by environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, is an analysis of surveys on ten reference beaches from Runkerry Strand in the North West to Rostrevor in the South East. Staff and volunteers have covered a total of 56 kilometres over fourteen survey rounds since September 2012 to collect the data and remove the litter.

Chris Allen, who manages the survey for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said “This new analysis looks at all the data we have collected since 2012. We’ve found tremendous variation between the surveys, so taking them all together allows us to get the best picture of the amount and composition of litter washing up on our beaches.”

Over the four years of the study, there was no significant change in the overall litter count, although the number of plastic bags and sanitary waste items have both reduced, which has been attributed to the carrier bag levy and improvements to treatment works by NI Water respectively.

Chris went on “When you compare our reference beaches against the reference beaches in the UK, Ireland and the countries around the North Atlantic, we actually come out with less litter per 100m. That we can have over 500 bits of litter per 100m and still be cleaner than other places is pretty worrying. This stuff damages boats; kills marine life, and could cause contamination of fish and shellfish that end up on our plates. Not to mention it looks pretty disgusting when it washes up on our beaches.”

As well as highlighting the amount of litter, the report praises the work of volunteers in cleaning beaches around the country. 4,187 bags of rubbish have been lifted by volunteers taking part in just this project – once the litter is counted, it is removed to ensure it isn’t counted in the next survey.

One group of people working hard to control litter are the residents of the Fishing Village of Ardglass in County Down. Kevin Quigley of the NI Fishery Harbour Authority said “We know litter is a problem – the tides wash it up here from all over the place – but our staff have pride in this beautiful harbour village and so can be seen regularly with local and other volunteers undertaking beach cleans.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful revealed recently that Councils in Northern Ireland spent £43 million cleaning up litter in 2015-16, and it’s clear that some of what’s left is making its way into the sea. However, there are a number of initiatives taking place around the country to tackle the problem, including Council-led strategies specifically to remove and reduce beach litter, and education programmes run by NI Water and Eco-Schools to teach responsible disposal of litter. Fishing vessels have even begun to bring litter caught in their nets back to shore for responsible disposal.

You can read the full 2016 Marine Litter Report at http://www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org/cgi-bin/generic?instanceID=50

Join the 4,600 volunteers Keeping Northern Ireland Beautiful

Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week 2016 calls for new recruits to join in the Island of Ireland’s Largest Coastal Clean Up!

6th-15th May 2016

The Clean Coast programme saw more than 4,600 volunteers, in 210 community groups, collect a staggering 28 tonnes of litter from the marine environment in Northern Ireland throughout 2015.

Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week 2016, which runs from 6th – 15th May, is now calling for new recruits across Northern Ireland to get involved in the numerous events and clean-ups taking place along coasts, beaches, rivers and loughs around the province throughout the week.

A joint initiative between Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Coca-Cola, the theme of the 2016 awareness week is ‘Enjoy Your Beach, Enjoy Your Beach Clean’. This year’s campaign will run in partnership with An Taisce in the Republic of Ireland and there are a range of cross boarder activities planned including clean up events along Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough and the opportunity for volunteers to travel to Wexford to carry out a special beach clean ahead of a seal release!

The United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates that 8 million individual litter items enter the marine environment every day. Marine litter includes a range of materials which have been deliberately discarded, or accidentally lost on shore or at sea. It includes materials that are carried out to sea from land, rivers, drainage, sewerage systems and even by the wind.

The Clean Coast programme supports communities who are passionate about caring for Northern Ireland’s coastline and inland waterways, and Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week 2016 will see a range of fun and informative events with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of keeping these important natural resources free from litter. Volunteers across Northern Ireland will demonstrate the ethos of “Live Here Love Here” by organising practical clean-ups to reduce the impact of litter on the marine environment.

Coastal celebrations through the week will range from beach fitness activities in Portballintrae incorporating clean-ups, to a ‘balsam bashing’ event at Lagan Valley Regional Park, to halt the spread of the invasive plant. The Coca-Cola Coast Care Awards and annual photography competition will also launch as part of the celebrations.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said, “The Coca Cola Coast Care programme is making waves with clean-ups removing tonnes of litter from our beautiful coastline. Litter in the sea is a floating time bomb, just waiting to choke marine mammals, turtles and birds. So every piece removed helps save a life. Of course Coast Care volunteers would rather be doing something more constructive than picking up other people’s litter but the mad people are those who don’t put their litter in the bin in the first place.”

2016 sees the 9th year of Coca-Cola’s support of the initiative and Gillian Shields, Community Investment Manager for Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland said, “We are delighted to once again partner with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, encouraging local communities to come together in celebration of the wonderful natural resource that is our extensive coastline.

“As a global company, Coca-Cola has proud sustainability credentials and it is a source of great pride for us that Coca-Cola HBC recently topped the Dow Jones World and Europe Sustainability Indices in the beverage category for a 2nd consecutive year. Our local business makes an important contribution to these results, with ambitious 2020 targets to reduce our impact on the environment, focussing on water, waste and energy usage. We are pleased that we are on track to deliver against our commitments, with some already achieved ahead of schedule.

“Our partnership with Clean Coast is a further demonstration of our commitment to sustainability, and I would like to take the opportunity to encourage all community groups across the country to get involved in their local events and clean-ups, supporting the important goal of keeping our marine environment litter-free.”

For a full schedule of events please visit www.liveherelovehere.org. All Clean Coast Week activities added to the Live Here Love Here website will also contribute to Clean Europe Week as part of this annual Europe-wide clean-up event.

If you would like to make a difference in your area whether it be coastal or an inland waterway then you can get involved by getting in touch with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful by or emailing nicola.murray@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org . Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful will be able to support your clean ups with equipment and other means of assistance and you may even be nominated for a prestigious award when the summer is over!

(ENDS)

Further information:

For further information on the Clean Coast Programme in association with Coca-Cola and on Coca Cola Coast Care please contact Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s Community Development Officer, Nicola Murray, on 028 9073 6920 or email Nicola.murray@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org Or the Chief Executive, Dr Ian Humphreys, on 028 9073 6920 or email ian.humphreys@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

We are proud to launch the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful manifesto for the 2016 Assembly election.

We would encourage you to have a read of some of our proposals to make Northern Ireland a cleaner, greener place for all of us to live in.

Please click the link below to find out more.

The Northern Ireland Marine Task Force (NIMTF), a coalition of ten environmental organisations including Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, today launched a campaign to support the designation of areas of marine conservation importance in Northern Ireland.

The campaign is focused on urging the public to respond to the Department of the Environment’s public consultation, launched today, on four proposed Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) located at Carlingford Lough, Waterfoot, Rathlin Island and Outer Belfast Lough. The Task Force says these new MCZ’s will play a vital role in protecting the natural resources of our local seas, from strengthening the network of Marine Protected Areas to promoting more sustainable fishing, for a better future for all.

Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan was given a marine tour of Belfast Lough on board ‘The Mona’. Speaking afterwards he commented:

“Marine Conservation Zones conserve the diversity of rare, and threatened habitats and species in our waters.

“Designating Marine Conservation Zones will be an important step towards protecting and enhancing the biodiversity of our seas, helping protect important marine habitats and species. As well as protecting nationally important marine wildlife, the Zones will also protect geological features in these waters.

“I would like to thank the Northern Ireland Marine Taskforce for supporting the proposals. This is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and appreciation for our important marine environment.”

NIMTF believe the establishment of new MCZs is vital to strengthen and protect vulnerable wildlife and marine communities such as the black guillemot, seagrass meadows and the ocean quahog, a large clam that lives buried in the sediment of Belfast Lough. The ocean quahog is a fascinating, long-lived species which can reach more than 500 years of age. The oldest recorded living ocean quahogs in Belfast Lough will have been present for the departure of the Titanic and both World Wars.

In the New Year environmental experts from NIMTF will embark on a campaign roadshow to meet and engage with politicians, community groups and individuals located close to each of the proposed MCZ’s.

Speaking following the campaign launch, Rebecca Hunter Northern Ireland Marine Task Force Officer said:

“Northern Ireland is home to some of Europe’s most unique and important marine wildlife and we believe that Marine Conservation Zones provide a real opportunity to help the recovery of our valuable seas.

“In January and February we will be visiting local communities across Northern Ireland to engage with schools, community groups, businesses and political audiences on the proposed MCZs and how we believe they will help protect the natural resources of our seas for a richer future for everyone. We hope MCZs will have the support not just of nature and wildlife lovers from across Northern Ireland but from every citizen who values all that our seas provide.

“We support the designation of the new MCZs for Northern Ireland however we believe that more needs to be done to ensure an effective network of Marine Protected Areas is created. We are looking forward to hearing proposals for further MCZs which are vital for ensuring a future for our local seas. We would encourage all interested parties to support our campaign and respond to the Department’s consultation.”

For more information on NIMTF’s campaign visit www.nimtf.org or join the conversation @NIMTF and use hashtag #seachangeni. The Department’s consultation documents can be found at www.doeni.gov.uk/consultations.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful welcomes the pioneering measures put forward by the European Commission to tackle litter prevention. These were put forward recently as part of the new legislative proposals on waste released as part of the EU Circular Economy package. The waste proposals specifically recognise that: “Littering has direct detrimental impacts on the environment and the wellbeing of citizens, and high clean-up costs are an unnecessary economic burden for society. The introduction of specific measures in waste management plans and proper enforcement by competent authorities should help eradicate this problem.”

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has calculated the average cost to ratepayers of cleaning our streets at £38m a year and the Clean Europe Network, of which the charity is a founding member, estimates that litter clean-up costs the taxpayer €11 to €13 billion annually in the EU, public money which could, in part at least, be better spent on other priorities.

The wind and waterways carry litter all across the continent to the seas and the ocean. As 80% of marine litter comes from the land, the problem in our seas cannot be tackled realistically without stopping littering on the land. The Commission proposals presented on 2 December are thus a major step forward for litter prevention across the EU.

Ian Humphreys, CEO of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “The Commission has started a process at EU level which we believe will lead to a better sharing of responsibility for litter prevention among all stakeholders. The Commission is giving impetus to work that will make a difference to all our lives. Given our unique engagement with citizens concerned with litter across Northern Ireland, we are eager to assist central and local government, public agencies and industry bodies to develop meaningful action plans and long term strategies that will engage the public and deliver positive change to the littering behaviour of people who live here.”

If adopted, the legislation will require governments to develop a litter prevention strategy in their national waste management plans. The latter must be prepared periodically and shared with Brussels. From now on, these national plans will need to combat all forms of littering and clean-up all types of litter (that could include, for example, tobacco waste, chewing gum, packaging, newspapers and magazines, tissue paper, and others). The legislation will also require EU member states to implement proper enforcement and penalties.

The proposals require producers to take on the communication of litter prevention information to citizens. This obligation would be implemented in practice via the so-called “producer responsibility organisations” (set up at national level) to manage collectively the individual responsibility of companies to guarantee appropriate collection and waste management of end-of-life products.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is one of 23 major national litter groups and business organisations to have made a joint plea to Government to take a firm lead on litter.

In a letter to the Secretaries of State and Ministers at Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government, the 23 signatories ask the Westminster Government to form an Advisory Committee on Litter in order to deliver a National Litter Action Plan to eliminate all litter. The signatories already have a draft paper that could inform the development of the National Litter Action Plan.

The Advisory Committee will create a single channel to focus resources and will provide advice and expertise to Government Departments and Local Authorities. It will enable all parties to work together, encourage a more consistent message on littering and will also demonstrate Government commitment to reducing all litter. As stated in the letter, “The formation of an Advisory Committee is an unparalleled opportunity to take a major step to reduce the societal impact of all litter. Without such Government leadership, efforts to deal with littering will continue to be fragmented and so less effective in delivering significant reductions in littering and in the costs of dealing with it”.

The average kilometre of beach in Northern Ireland has over 5,000 pieces of litter on it.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has been counting the litter on beaches from Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough for the past three years, and the 2015 results are the worst yet. On the fourteen reference beaches, an average of 1,500 bits of plastic, 425 plastic drinks bottles and 180 cotton buds per kilometre were observed.

At least 80% of the litter was made of plastic and likely to be recyclable.

Chris Allen, who managed the survey for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said “These are pretty stark figures. This report suggests that more litter is being dumped on our beaches, not less. Setting aside the dangers to wildlife, much of our country’s economic prosperity is based on our natural heritage, and we are just trashing it. We have world-class beaches in this country. They fly Blue Flags for excellent facilities; they set the scene for enormously successful TV shows; tens of thousands of visitors come to enjoy them, but they are frequently covered in a load of plastic bottles, crisp packets and bits of string. Would you come back? Would you bring your friends?”

The figures were collected as part of a European requirement to monitor the amount and impact of litter in the sea, where it kills wildlife and damages boats.

Chris went on “Winter storms dumped tonnes of litter onto some beaches overnight, suggesting there is a huge reservoir of litter already in the sea, and we are just adding to it. We must come to terms with the damage we are doing to our own health and prosperity by dropping litter.”

It’s not all bad news though. The charity reports that they had well over 3,000 hours volunteered by people keen to improve their local beach and protect its wildlife, which resulted in almost 15.5 tonnes of litter being removed. The effect the carrier bag levy is also beginning to be seen, with no increase in the number of bags despite the growth in amount of litter overall.

Chris continued “Through volunteering programmes such as Live Here Love Here and Coast Care the people of Northern Ireland have demonstrated their appetite to be involved in and making a positive change to the places they enjoy. We support that, and we as a society should encourage it at every opportunity.”

Five beaches along the East coast of Northern Ireland have received awards for their environmental management.

Newcastle, Murlough, Tyrella Beach, Cranfield West and Helen’s Bay and received their awards at Helen’s Bay in Crawfordsburn Country Park on 25th June, joining 30 beaches in Wales and 58 in the Republic of Ireland who have also received the award.

Cloughey beach on the Ards Peninsula received a pilot Award while Ards and North Down Borough Council completes the adoption of the beach and Warren.

The Green Coast Awards are supported by Coca-Cola and are part of a wider eco-management and volunteering programme run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. The aim of the Award is to recognise beaches for their high environmental quality.

To achieve the award, beaches must have excellent water quality and have effective and appropriate management which ensures the protection of the natural environment.

Chris Allen, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s Local Environmental Quality Manager said, “These beaches are exceptional places to visit for their unspoilt natural beauty. They may not all have the infrastructure or facilities available on our Blue Flag beaches, but that is no criticism: These beaches are all clean, safe and environmentally friendly, and we should be proud that we have these natural gems on our doorstep.”

Gillian Shields, Community Investment Manager with Coca-Cola, said, “We are proud to support the Green Coast Awards and Clean Coasts Programme.

As a local company we have been investing in community projects for some 75 years and are proud to partner with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, an organisation that is committed to protecting our local environment and championing environmental change for coastlines throughout Northern Ireland.”

Green Coast Award beaches generally have strong community involvement, with local people given the opportunity to take part in the management process; everything from helping to keep it free of litter through to having a say in development decisions.

If you would like to help make a difference in your area whether it be a coastal or an inland waterway then you can get involved by getting in touch with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful by ringing 02890 736 920 or emailing Nicola.Murray@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful may be able to support your events such as local clean-ups with equipment and other means of assistance and you may even be nominated for a Coast Care Award at the end of the summer!