Four Wheel Drive Queensland
Fraser Island Clean Up (FICU) 2022 held 20-22 May 2022
Chairperson Post-Event Report
Four Wheel Drive Queensland (4WD QLD) in collaboration with our partners in this venture, Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES), Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation (BAC); hosted another very successful beach clean-up this year.
Thanks to QPWS and the DES for the contribution of free camping and vehicle passes. Thanks also to Manta Ray Fraser Island Barges and Kingfisher Bay Ferry for their reduced pricing.
Sponsorship this year was a record level for the event. The list of companies that assisted us is on the FICU website. I would like to make a particular mention of our new major sponsor for this year, CAOS, who have not only been generous in their financial support, but also assistance with merchandising and marketing for the event.
Toyo Tires came on board to sponsor 4wd Qld for 2022. They strongly supported the K’gari/Fraser Island Clean Up. Thank you to them for their support
To all our sponsors, please know that your donations and prizes to support the event are very much appreciated. Mostly – thanks to the 4WD QLD affiliated club members who have dedicated their time to assist in cleaning the
island’s beaches since 2001.
From the 20th to 23rd May this year, a total of 23 affiliated clubs made the journey to the island from all over Queensland, for what was the twenty-first Fraser Island Clean Up. This included 350 vehicles with a total of 751 volunteers. Our sponsors were again more than happy to assist in the clean-up.
Unfortunately, the weather was not kind to us this year, with rain setting in from the Friday night before the event and continuing for most of the weekend and much of the following week for those that stayed. This, however, did not dampen our spirits and it turned out to be the most successful year yet as far as the volume of rubbish that was removed from the beach.
We cleaned on both days of the weekend, working north from Indian Head to Sandy Cape on Saturday and Hook Point to Indian Head on Sunday.
The 2022 beach clean netted just under 8300kg of debris. This was due in part to the large amount of flood related debris from the recent flooding in Southern Qld.
Plastic pollution is the most widespread problem affecting the marine environment. It also threatens marine creature health, food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism. We are proud to be a small part in the action for environmental cleaning here at this iconic location.
The collected rubbish was deposited in 3 x15m3 bins provided to us under a sponsorship agreement with Fraser Coast Regional Council. All waste data was recorded and collated by our partners, Tangaroa Blue Foundation. This
is an Australia-wide not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the removal and prevention of marine debris. We look forward to a long and happy collaboration with them.
This year we had the unfortunate situation of the discovery of a couple of container fumigation canisters which are highly dangerous. This shut down the Orchard Beach sorting station on the Saturday afternoon while Tangaroa Blue handled the situation before the cannisters were passed on to the relevant authorities.
Although the Sunday night “Thank You” dinner was marred by some periods of heavy rain, those that made it had an enjoyable time and were thanked for their efforts with some generous prizes by sponsors. As in previous years, QPWS Community Liaison Officer, Jenna Tappley, brought along another excellent display of artefacts, and skeletons. We were also supported by the local on duty Qld Police Service constable and the Qld Ambulance Service across the weekend.
Despite some challenges this year, the committee has delivered another successful event that was not only a great event for the affiliated clubs and sponsors, but once again has helped in keeping this heritage listed island in pristine condition.
We have achieved previous planned improvements, which included having our event plastic free, developing a comprehensive event guide to be issued to all participants, mandatory PPE requirements, supply of sharps kits and information sheet provided to all trip leaders. We are also in the process of moving to a new website platform, which will help to streamline the registration process in future clean-up events.
As always, the Fraser Island Clean Up has provided a great opportunity for all those involved including 4wd clubs and sponsors, to contribute to a wonderful cause whilst having fun at the same time. The majority of committee members have expressed their desire to continue within a similar framework as a committee and we all hope for an even better event in 2023.
With our regards,
David Evans
CARE Officer 4WD QLD on behalf of the 2022 FICU Committee
Complete report here 4WDQLD FICU 2022 Post Event Report
