The British Mountaineering Council (BMC)’s Access and Conservation Trust (ACT) supports the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by supporting access and conservation projects and programmes that both protect the cliff and mountain environment and the wider countryside, and also promote responsible and sustainable use of these environments for the public benefit of walking, climbing, hill walking and mountaineering.
Project Impact Aims
Conserve & Restore
Contributes to habitat improvement.
Removal of litter from 10 hectares.
Connecting People with Nature
Popular hiking area.
Involve over 100 volunteers.
Legacy
Assessing litter types to enable future publicity and advocacy to reduce, and, wherever possible, eliminate litter.
The project contributes to the aims of improving the habitat of 12 endangered Artic Alpines (Yr Wyddfa, Snowdon), by removing litter that has accumulated in gullies over many years. Using technical rope teams and skilled mountaineers to venture into an area of the mountain, which is impossible to reach on foot, the litter will be removed across 10 hectares and rare species like the iconic Snowdon Rainbow Beatle in this Special Area of Conservation will be able to recover and regenerate.
The project also aims to gather information about the amount, type and brands of litter found, helping to understand its origin as well as visitor behaviour; assessing if litter may have been placed deliberately, dropped accidentally, blown in from elsewhere, or because of land management (old fencing, ton bags etc.). This will be done in partnership with Trash Free Trails as part of its research.
This information will help BMC’s Access and Conservation Trust to encourage consumers to leave no trace, producers to take more responsibility for litter in our uplands, and to help lobby Government(s) for effective deposit return schemes and a ban on single-use waste.
EOCA member deuter has made sustainability a core part of its values and daily operations. In recent years, the brand has supported a variety of environmental projects across Europe, ranging from biodiversity conservation to large-scale clean-up efforts. As a committed EOCA member deuter continues to take responsibility for protecting the wild places that inspire its work and its community.
The Update
This summer the Yr Wyddfa Big Clean Up took place over 3 days, and in total 4282 individual items were removed from Clogwyn Y Garnedd and Cwm below it.
Day one saw a ropes team accessing the gullies from above and abseiling down the face to remove as much pollution as possible from the steeper gullies above. What was apparent here, was the high number of rucksack covers and hats that have more recently been lost. But, significant volumes of pollution had built up below over many years based of the pollution that was found.
Day two involved a training day where volunteers were educated and trained in the ecology of the site, the citizens science project, and other projects that are ongoing across Eryri.
On day three, approximately 50 volunteers worked tirelessly to remove and record as much of the pollution as possible.
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