Volunteers and a partnership of organisations have come together to tackle litter on one of Wales’ most iconic beaches.

The litter-pick on Harlech beach was arranged by The Snowdonia Society, a local charity that works to protect and enhance the beauty and special qualities of Snowdonia.

The event was planned to take place at the same time as the annual Great British Beach Clean Weekend, which is organised by the Marine Conservation Society each September.

Mary Williams, who is a conservation officer with the Snowdonia Society, said: “The day was a great success with 22 volunteers turning up to help – some coming from as far as Birmingham, and we also had someone walking on the beach come over and volunteer. It was a great day!

“It was interesting to note that there was very little rubbish on the main part of the beach. A sign at the car park encourages people to do a two-minute beach litter pick (#2minutebeachclean), so perhaps that’s why. Thank you to all who pick up litter!

“Most of the rubbish we collected was fishing-related – nets, pots, fish boxes – that had come in on the tide.”

The group’s first task was to conduct a litter survey on a 100m stretch of beach. This was done for the Marine Conservation Society, who feed the information into a worldwide annual survey of litter pollution along our coasts. The rest of the day was a general litter-pick with about a mile-and-a-half of beach cleaned by the volunteers.

Those helping on the day included staff from Natural Resources Wales, Snowdonia National Park and Gwynedd Council’s Maritime and Highways Departments.

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