WHAT IS THE COASTAL CLEAN UP PROJECT?

Since 2022, Our Backyard Trust, Stoney Creek and Tauranga Sport Fishing Club have combined forces to raise funds and a team of volunteers to be involved in our annual Coastal Clean Up Project. The purpose of this annual project is to protect our waterways and marine life and to further encourage other people and businesses to support the ongoing protection of our valuable natural resources. For the first-ever Coastal Clean Up project in 2022, we are proud to say that we removed over 5 tonnes of rubbish from the area, including abandoned vehicles, that were leaching into the Harbour Waterways. At our second Coastal Clean Up event in 2023 we collected a further 4 tonnes of rubbish in the bins, plus an extra 1.5 tonnes estimated in poles, rubbish and debris extracted by the helicopter that couldn’t fit in the bins. That takes our total over the past two years to 11 TONNES OF RUBBISH!!!

2024 Coastal Clean Up

We are proud to bring back the Coastal Clean Up Project in 2024. This follows a huge success at the second Coastal Clean Up project last year, when Our Backyard Trust, Stoney Creek, Tauranga Sport Fishing Club and an army of volunteers and other local businesses, all combined forces to clean up our backyard and remove loads of harmful rubbish from our marina, ocean and harbour ecosystem. This year’s project will be funded by donations from key sponsors, local businesses and families, as well as the generous funding generated from the Calcutta Jackpot at the 2024 Stoney Creek One Base Fishing Tournament in March. With the support of so many local businesses and our proud local communities, we will continue to make the project an annual event and do our bit to protect our own backyard, providing a healthy and thriving marine environment for all the things we are passionate about, and for generations to come. We will once again be based at Sulphur Point near the Tauranga Sport Fishing Club, where we will build dedicated Clean Up Squads of volunteers that will work across the beaches, harbour, boat ramps and carparks across the general Tauranga Harbour area. We hope that the 2024 Coastal Clean Up Project is bigger and better than before and we hope to see you there.

Why it’s so important to us

Passion

We share your passion for the ocean and the outdoors, your respect for wildlife, and your thirst to venture into new territory or terrain. We are very passionate about everything on and off the water. This includes fishing, only taking what fish you need, being out on a boat, breathing in the salt air, walking in barefoot in the sand and feeling the warmth through your body, but also keeping our waterways, beaches and harbours clean and free of rubbish.

Pride

The smiles say at all. A great community bonded by a love for getting out on the water or being in the outdoors. We pride ourselves on being able to give back to the community as this is something we are genuinely passionate about. As with any event within our own backyard, we have realised that this is something that cannot be achieved with just a handful of people. So with the more people involved, the greater effect this will have on others.

Protect

As humans on this earth, we are responsible for how we lead and demonstrate to our future generations the importance of why we need to preserve our waterways, beaches lakes and rivers. We need to be creating more awareness and educating our future leaders. We need to show them what it could be like if we do not carry on these traditions of keeping the waterways clean.

Get In Touch

Want to suggest an initiative or a project, or get involved in some way? Get in contact with us to talk more.

Make a Donation

Any support, no matter how big or small, makes a difference.