Representatives of the Meirionnydd branch of the North Wales Wildlife Trust have led a clean-up of Barmouth Beach.

The group set about cleaning the beach on Tuesday, 29 October in a two-part event.

The clean was part of a series of events organised by the trust called ‘Living Seas’, a project which aims to keep marine life flourishing and the oceans clean and healthy.

Janet Baker is the secretary for the branch. She attended the beach clean and has since told Cambrian News how it went.

She said: “It went really well. A lot of people in Barmouth knew about it. There wasn’t as much rubbish as we thought there would be. I think that has to do with the tides here.”

Mrs Baker also warned that plastic can be invisible to the naked eye and spoke of the vital role of Barmouth beach to the ecosystem.

She added: “What looks like pure sand may be mixed with tiny pieces of plastic. Barmouth is important because we have a lot of jellyfish which come over in the current from Mexico. They have the plastic in them which is passed on to turtles when they eat the jellyfish.”

The beach clean was not the only event in Barmouth that day. Before hitting the beach, the group of around volunteers went on a woodland walk. They visited the Wern Mynach Nature Reserve in the centre of the town.

Mrs Baker said: “One of the members who lives in Barmouth was keen to promote it. A lot of people have never heard of it. It’s very small in the centre of town and it’s home to rare wildlife. We wanted to make people aware of it to help keep it going.”

The organised beach clean may be over, but Mrs Baker advised how beach-goers can do their part and therefore reduce the need for large beach clean initiatives.

She said: “If everyone picks up a few pieces and is constantly aware, then this will make a difference. Barmouth is a special area for wildlife and a very clean part of the sea. We want to keep it that way.”

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