In light of COP26, we want to take the time to re-focus on Upmo Project Worker and Marine Conservation Society Champion Volunteer Kerrie Flockhart’s walk from Dunbar to Fife Ness, a total of 82 miles, with beach cleans along the way.
The Marine Conservation Society are committed to raising awareness of and tackling the urgent issues our oceans face. Read their article about what they want from COP26 here, where they explain key actions to protect our oceans from further harm, and how a healthy ocean can help us even more than we know as we face the climate crisis.
Kerrie spends time with the group litter picking on local beaches as well as undertaking education workshop training so she can highlight to young people the importance of protecting our oceans. On November 6th, Kerrie will stand at the COP26 Climate Hub at Dynamic Earth - where she will be available to talk to people about the situation our oceans are in, and what we need to do to safeguard them in the future.
Here’s some advice from Kerrie on how you can do your part to help clean up the ocean.
“There are many ways in which we can all help with reducing the amount of marine litter, from using less single-use products, correct disposal or recycling of our rubbish and also by picking up litter you might come across. While it's not possible to pick up all the litter we see, if we all picked up just one or two pieces of litter every time we visited a beach, imagine what a big difference it would make. Also, keep an eye out for group beach cleans or litter picking events that might be running in your local area.”
We hope this short film inspires you to get involved with protecting our oceans!
‘Walk Forth’ was produced by Upmo Connect, who joined Kerrie at points along her journey to document the trip and the important work. In the film, Kerrie not only cleans up the beaches but enjoys our beautiful waters through Wild Swimming, if you feel like trying this activity, make sure you do some research. Advice can be found through the RNLI here.