Sulaibikhat Beach: Before, After and Now

Back in December I posted about the Sulaibikhat beach cleanup which was done by K’s PATH in which they manually collected approximately 2 tonnes of waste in 4 hours. Along with that post I posted a shot of the beach before the cleanup and one after. Well they now have another shot of the same beach taken 6 months after the cleanup and as you will see below, the mangrove stretch, which was layered with plastic and styrofoam waste is now supporting new life.

Our 65th beach clean-up today at Sulaibikhat beach 1 (dubbed by volunteers as Kuwait’s ‘mangrove’ beach) proved to be a momentous day for K’S PATH and Al Yaal’s year-old sustained marine conservation program. Despite the rising summer heat, a fresh stretch of new vegetation was spotted flourishing along the mangroves today. This stretch was cleared of over 2000 kgs waste, mostly styrofoam and plastic, in December 2011 by 25 volunteers and students of AIS in 4 hours. Ever since, our team worked tirelessly to clear smaller waste and debris from top soil. Spring 2012 saw the first signs of growth – green saplings sprouting from soil which was, presumably for years, layered by a blanket of waste unable to support life. A big thank you to all volunteers who have worked relentlessly to protect this stretch of Sulaibikhat since the launch of the program in April 2011! We have much work yet to do, both in clearing waste from lower layers of soil and beneath mangrove branches. [FaceBook]