British High Commission cleanses Palma Rima Beach

Press release As part of an initiative to raise awareness of the impact of plastic pollution, the British High Commission team joined forces with Green-Up Gambia, the GREAT Institute and the Gambia Tourism Board to organise a beach-cleaning exercise at Palma Rima on Thursday 20th December. The fun exercise brought together volunteers from multiple nationalities and ages, all united behind the important message that failure to act now on plastic pollution could lead to there being more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050. Just on the one stretch of beach, which is regularly cleaned by the hoteliers and bar owners the volunteers collected a whole lorry load of discarded rubbish and plastics, highlighting the importance of awareness raising and behaviour change. The UK is committed to tackling plastic waste and in 2018, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office launched a #BeyondPlastic campaign to eradicate single use plastic in its headquarters and British Embassies and High Commissions by 2020. The British High Commission has already fully implemented the ban and no longer uses plastic bottles, straws, cups or cutlery in any of its buildings or at functions and hopes that other organisations will be inspired to follow suit. When thanking the volunteers and partners, High Commissioner Sharon Wardle, highlighted that governments have their part to play in tackling plastic pollution, and the Gambian Government’s moves to ban plastic bags and sign up to global commitments such as the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance are powerful steps. However every individual action counts and citizens also need to play their part both in behaviours and by raising awareness. She congratulated Green-Up Gambia and the GREAT Institute for all their efforts and hard work to achieve this.]]>