Shoalhaven Riverwatch held its Clean up Australia Day working bee on Tuesday, March 14, focusing on Numbaa and Pig Islands within the Shoalhaven River.
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Car tyres, plastic drink bottles, glass bottles, drink cans, buckets and plastic wrap from hay bales were amongst the rubbish collected which easily filled the skip bin provided by the Shoalhaven Council.
"Any rubbish, especially plastic bottles thrown from cars, or in a gutter will end up in a creek and eventually in the ocean," Shoalhaven Riverwatch chairperson John Tate said.
"Plastic breaks into smaller pieces but does not disappear from the environment.
"These small bits of plastic, often smaller than a five cent piece, are perfect for ingestion by fish and birds." he added.
Riverwatch project manager Peter Jirgens said this year the Riverwatch group had collaborated with the Greenwell Point Marine Rescue to ferry volunteers to the islands for rubbish retrieval.
"Staff from Shoalhaven City Council's environmental section, and volunteers from Shoalhaven Landcare's Fox Control program also helped out with the rubbish collection," Mr Jirgens said.
Riverwatch is also combining forces with Shoalhaven Landcare's Fox Control Program to protect wildlife habitat along the Shoalhaven River from Burrier to Shoalhaven Heads and establish wildlife refuges on the three islands within the river.
Southern Fox Control coordinator Ron Cowlishaw said they were happy with the work done so far, but said there was still more to be done to protect wildlife.
"So far we have removed 12 foxes from Pig Island over the last three years using volunteer licenced shooters, but we saw plenty of fox footprints along the foreshore, so we have more work to do," Mr Cowlishaw said.
Mr Jirgens said Shoalhaven Riverwatch was keen to continue its efforts to enhance river habitat by planting mangroves in highly exposed areas and trees along the riverbanks.
Help is always welcomed and the group said if you would like to volunteer with Riverwatch you can register on its website at www.riverwatch.org.au or if you would like to volunteer for the Fox Control program, register on their website at www.shoalhavenlandcare.org.au.
