Over the weekend FIMRO’s seasonal Education Officer David Parnaby led a group of brilliant volunteers made up of islanders, visitors and guests staying at the Fair Isle Bird Observatory to carry out a beach clean at Leestit.

Following a diligent search, 493 individual pieces of litter were removed from the shoreline, weighing almost 60kg. The majority of this (89%) was plastic with the most common items of litter removed including buoys (108), plastic drink bottles (83), with a further 138 unidentified plastic fragments.

Most of the litter was identified as being sourced from the fishing industry, as the largest single contributor, though 40% of litter collected was not identified to source.

You can find out more about the MCS beach clean programme here:

https://www.mcsuk.org/what-you-can-do/beach-clean

Well done to everyone who took part

This year’s FIMRO Education Officer project is generously supported by funds from the Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation and will run until October 2026.