A local Member of the Senedd welcomes National Marine Week by welcoming representatives of the Marine Conservation Society and Hiraeth Yn Y Mor to the Vale of Clwyd.
Gareth Davies MS who represents the Vale of Clwyd in the Senedd welcomed Marine Conservation Society Policy and Advocacy Manager, Chloe Wenman and Ffion Mitchell, Hiraeth Yn Y Mor Project Lead (both pictured).
The Hiraeth Yn Y Mor Project covers Kinmel Bay, Towyn, Rhyl and Prestatyn. It enables people to understand their influence of the ocean, helping those in the community rebuild relations with the sea makes them want to spend time protecting it.
Funding from the National Lottery for the project is for next two years until March 2025 which Gareth welcomes.
Speaking after the meeting Gareth said, "it's a fantastic opportunity to mark National Marine Week by welcoming Chloe and Ffion to the Vale of Clwyd to talk about such an important subject affecting marine wildlife locally and across Wales. It was positive to hear more about the Hiraeth Yn Y Mor scheme which is a funded project that will ensure public engagement takes place with stakeholders to understand the sea better and further inform local community leaders and the public on how best to protect the sea for future generations to enjoy and make it sustainable."
Part of raising awareness of Marine Conservation is the cleanliness of beaches and items of litter from beaches that can directly impact on the health of marine life, a scheme supported by the Marine Conservation Society is the Great British Beach Clean which runs from 19th-24th September and takes place at beaches across Wales and the UK.
Commenting on the success of beach cleans, Gareth said,
"Where beach cleanliness has improved over recent years, it's important we maintain and build on this to make sure our beaches are healthy and sustainable for future generations and we continue to preserve our marine life locally, a fantastic way to achieve this is by taking part in the Great British Beach Clean in September to show your support for clean and healthy beaches and the knock on effect such actions have on our wildlife and species in the sea."
