A SCOTTISH island has been chosen as the starting point of a national campaign to tackle marine plastic pollution.
Wee Cumbrae, a largely uninhabited island in the Forth of Clyde in the West of Scotland, has been visited by the Project One Team, a group made up of conservationists, artists and environmental activists.
The project aims to protect marine life and restore coastal ecosystems as part of the Project One Wave campaign, led by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK and Seashell clothing.
The campaign’s mission is to unite ocean conservation groups, businesses, creatives and policymakers to tackle marine plastic pollution through beach clean-ups and underwater recovery efforts.
A total of 36 volunteers visited Wee Cumbrae last month and recovered items like cotton buds, bottle top lids, nurdles and other hazardous items.
They also visited Inverkip in Renfrewshire, where they sorted and prepared the waste they collected for the next step of the journey, which involves the recycling and up-cycling of the materials to keep them out of the ocean for good.
Included in the group of volunteers was photographer Mandy Baker, seal rescuer and conservationist Eden Wilmott and influencer Laura Young.
Rob Read, COO of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK, said that “in the West of Scotland alone, local fishing boats lose over 600 tonnes of gear every year” which include “nets, ropes and lines that become deadly traps” and that “by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish” without swift action.
Sunita Poddar, trustee of The Pantjali Yog Peeth Trust and one of the island's owners, said: “Wee Cumbrae is rich in history and wildlife so it’s only fitting that it becomes the starting point for a movement as vital as Project One Wave.”
The island itself has Scotland’s second oldest lighthouse, three historic castles and a beach with around 100 grey seals in it.
It is inhabited by two people, who act as caretakers for the island.
