The 2024 ReefClean Report has been released and demonstrates how community effort is helping to reduce the impact of marine debris on the Reef.
The ReefClean Program is run by Tangaroa Blue. The Program organises beach clean-up events, delivers educational initiatives and collects valuable marine debris data.
Marine debris is recognised as one of the key threats for the Reef. It can threaten biodiversity, be lethal for marine life and impact on tourism.
In 2024, the ReefClean Program:
- removed 11 tonnes of marine debris from the GBR region
- ran 222 clean-up events
- involved 1372 event volunteers and 142 organisations
- cleaned up 40 hectares across the GBR region.
The largest ever annual Great Barrier Reef Clean-up event was also held in 2024.
Coordinated in partnership with Clean Up Australia throughout October, the event saw 2402 kilograms of marine debris removed and 97,000 items collected by more than 1800 volunteers.
The ReefClean Program began in 2019. Since then:
- more than 140 tonnes of marine debris has been removed
- more than 2.6 million marine debris items have been collected
- 18,000 volunteers have been involved in clean-up events.
ReefClean is funded by the Australian Government's Reef Trust.
The Reef Trust is Australia's investment program to protect the Reef and support delivery of the Reef 2050 Plan.
