Fair Isle Primary School
In collaboration with the Fair Isle Bird Observatory, led by FIBO ranger Carla Hill, and with help from FIMRO Education Officer David Parnaby, the Fair Isle Primary School took part in the Great British Beach Clean – a week-long citizen science event, where hundreds of beach cleans take place up and down the UK between Friday 19th – Sunday 28th September 2025.
The group collected a total of 11.5 kg of rubbish from one beach at Muckle Uri Geo covering a 50 m transect, with 323 individual items collected and categorised. The majority of rubbish (>65 %) was classified as plastic/polystyrene, with the second most common rubbish type being glass (>15 %). Other litter types included: metal, pottery, rubber, cloth and paper/cardboard (see below).
Categories of litter collected
Last week the Fair Isle Primary School learnt how to enter beach cleaning data onto the Marine Conservation Society portal. This citizen science litter data helps the Marine Conservation Society to monitor the litter types found on British coastlines. To date, this data has been used by MCS in their campaign for change, including the introduction of the plastic bag charge, banning microplastics in personal care products, better wet wipe labelling, and supporting a tax on single-use plastic items.
In addition to the school’s efforts, there were two additional beach cleans carried out by the wider community in Fair Isle as part of the Great British Beach Clean, coordinated by FIMRO’s seasonal education officer. The two shorelines at North Haven and South Harbour were cleaned, along a 100 m transect on each. Again, the predominant litter type was categorised as plastic/polystyrene for each beach.
A great effort by all volunteers involved 
For more information on the Great British Beach Clean and how to get involved see here.
