Rangers Clear Plastic From Abu Minqar Island's Beaches in Red Sea Reef Campaign

Red Sea environment teams have run an extensive clean-up of Abu Minqar island off Hurghada, stripping accumulated waste - plastic above all - from its beaches, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The work brought together protectorate rangers, the team from the Green Hurghada project, staff of the governorate's general environment administration and the regional branch of the Environmental Affairs Agency.

Dr Ahmed Ghallab, director of the Red Sea Protectorates, said clearing waste from the islands and reserves is part of a continuous plan, and that protecting the islands, the coral reefs and the habitats of marine life is a priority both for biodiversity and for sustainable tourism. The work does not stop at removing rubbish, he said: teams also monitor the environmental condition of the islands, coasts and beaches, and watch for practices or pressures that could damage them.

He asked visitors and people working in marine activities to stick to the environmental rules and not to leave waste, particularly plastic, on the shore or in the water.

Abdullah Abed, director of the Red Sea protectorate, said plastic waste is a challenge that needs collection campaigns to continue alongside awareness work and cutting the waste off at source, and called for cooperation between the executive and environmental bodies, the local community and those working in tourism and marine activities.

The campaign cleared wide stretches of the island's beaches, reducing the risk the waste poses to marine creatures, birds and the other life that depends on the island's shore, the paper reported.

The report does not say how much waste was collected, or how often the clean-ups are run.

Abu Minqar is one of the islands Hurghada's day boats visit. Much of what ends up on its beaches arrives with the same trips that go there to look at the reef.