Page 148 - RSDG Year of 2023

146 EAGLE AND CARBINE
On the 16th of August in intrepid team of volunteers led by Maj Dez O’Connor headed for the beach on the other side of the runway at Leuchars. We met up with Dominic Rye a conservation officer with Fife Coast & Countryside Trust. 1UK Division had set all subordinate units a task to do something ‘Green’ with the aim of taking soldiers out into the countryside and do ‘good’ for the environment. After a few emails and phone calls it was decided that we should embrace the Eden Estuary and do a litter pick focusing on plastic waste. We met Dominic who gave us all a quick chat on what we were looking for and what to be aware of whilst working on the shoreline in the estuary. We then broke down into small teams and spread out.
One thing that was very quickly obvious was that there were not enough of us and we couldn’t carry what we could see! There had been a late summer storm a few days before hand and the high tide line was very littered with everything you could imagine. Most of the haul included ‘Ghost’ fishing equipment which had been lost by the fishing industry and according to Dominic was one of the most damaging to wildlife. We worked the shoreline in opposite directions collecting for 2 hours whilst regularly
returning to a predesignated spot to drop off the haul in special bins for later collection by the trust.
Dominic gave everyone impromptu lessons along the way in wildlife spotting, conservation and preventative measures which were welcomed by all, apart from being out on the beach on a decent day in August it was very therapeutic to know we were doing a good turn at the same time. It would take a few regiments worth of soldiers a couple of weeks to really make an impact in the estuary and that’s not because its in a poor state, far from it, but if you ever go walking on the beach you don’t tend to take the time to really look close for plastic and debris washed up which has an impact on the environment.
2 hours on the beach is enough to make anyone hungry so we headed to the local fish and chip shop for a quick supper and a chat before heading back to camp. One thing is clear, every little helps but more is needed to preserve our beautiful coastline and wildlife as soon as we can find a space in the FOE we will head out again.
GREEN RHINO
Maj D O’Connor
Green Rhino litter pickers and some of their haul