The balance between people and nature

The Environment Department has a sensitive balancing act in trying to meet the expectations of people - both locals and visitors - and to sustain the needs of wildlife. There are diverse views regarding beach management, including the clearance of litter and seaweed. The demands of various industries, including tourism, can put pressure on the fragile marine ecosystem and our policies try to reflect this.

Tractor-drawn machines and other mechanical cleaning methods which remove seaweed, shells and driftwood can affect insect habitats. This may, in turn, be detrimental to food sources for sea birds and to other seashore ecology (e.g. through compaction). Therefore, Guernsey's beach cleaning is carried out by hand wherever possible, unlike many other seaside resorts which carry out cleaning by machine. ENCAMS (formerly the Tidy Britain Group), which runs the Seaside Award scheme, has advised the Department that it is against the use of mechanical cleaning methods on Seaside Award rural beaches, unless it is absolutely necessary.

Beach inspections

The Department’s officers inspect the beaches at least once a week during the summer months (1 May to 30 September inclusive) and once a week during the winter. The Department is always willing to investigate any complaints from members of the public regarding the Island's beaches.

Litter clearing

The Department employs a contractor to clear litter from the beaches, coastal car parks and surrounding land. A team walks the beaches to collect the litter by hand and then takes the rubbish to the landfill site. The frequency of the litter clearance varies throughout the year.

As you might expect, the most popular beaches (including those with Seaside Awards) are cleaned seven days a week during the summer school holidays. Additional litter clearance is arranged if necessary; for example, if extra rubbish is washed up after storms.

Litter is a potential hazard to marine life, and to people using the beach or sea. If marine pollution was not dealt with it could cause lost revenue from spoilt fish catches, damage to property and a decline in tourism as a result of litter on the beaches. Each year the Department spends in the region of £120,000 to remove litter, flotsam and jetsam from the seashore.

To help keep Guernsey's beaches clean, please take your litter home with you or place it in one of the many litter bins which are located in the Island's coastal car parks and at access points to the beaches.

Seaweed removal

The Department's seaweed clearance policy has been carefully devised in close consultation with La Société Guernesiaise, and allows the removal of seaweed from the Island's most popular beaches, as defined under the Policy, when it becomes a public nuisance.

The Department is often aware that seaweed is building up in a particular location and it generally waits for the next lowest spring tide in order to clear the seaweed. If the Department did not wait, the seaweed could be cleared but the problem might reoccur soon afterwards. Extra inspections of the beaches are carried out just before any bank holiday weekend and if the quantity of seaweed has reached unacceptable levels then the affected beach is cleared - regardless of the state of the tides.

The seaweed is usually removed by a tractor with a rake, or by JCB excavator and lorry, and taken straight down the beach to the low water mark. From there, the seaweed normally disperses naturally by the currents on the next high tide. This method of seaweed clearance allows any sand, accidentally picked up by the rake or JCBs, to return to the beach. Wave and tidal action allows the sand and other beach material to travel back up the beach during the summer, which helps to maintain plenty of sand on the beaches.

However, if the problem reoccurs immediately after seaweed clearance (and this is rare) then other methods of disposal are considered. Seaweed might have to be carried off the beach and landfilling is often the only way to dispose of such material. The Department is reluctant to use this method as large amounts of sand are inevitably collected with the seaweed (even when a rake is used), despite the Department's best efforts to conserve beach material.

Many wading birds depend on the seaweed for insects and other food, and so a policy of daily seaweed clearance would have a detrimental effect. In addition, compaction of the sand by heavy machinery can cause problems for sea life.

Whilst nature conservation issues are important and generally appreciated by people living nearby, the Department understands that occasionally the accumulation can reach nuisance levels. The Department takes all complaints about seaweed very seriously and assesses them on an individual basis.

Beachwatch

Beachwatch is a practical environmental initiative, organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). This campaign began in 1993 and aims to raise awareness about the problem of marine and coastal litter.

During one particular weekend each September, volunteers across the British Isles collect and record the litter that they find. The results are collated by the MCS to provide a national “snapshot” of the litter problem for the beaches of Britain. It allows a comparison to be made from year to year to monitor changes over time.

If you want to take part in the next Beachwatch please contact the Marine Conservation Society.