I had to walk right round the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis before finding the entrance, on the first evening of events for the Fossil Festival. I was rather surprised by the number of people in the audience – it was almost full.
I started my speech with a video of waves of plastic washing up on the shores of the Dominican Republic. It’s a shocking reminder of the plastics nightmare we’re living through. Luckily, the South Coast of Dorset is nothing like as bad as that, but as with many other parts of the UK there’s rising awareness and concern about the problem of ocean plastics.
My key message was that we have good reason to be concerned, and that we need to galvanise public interest into action that really does make environmental sense. This is not simply about turning off the plastic tap, but about dramatically reducing waste of all types – and most importantly stopping it getting into the sea.
Adam Rees from Plymouth University, followed me. The focus of his work is on marine conservation – particularly in Lyme Bay. Interested to hear how effective it has been to have a protected area, along the coast, with fish stocks that were severely declining, being rejuvenated.
Adam Rees
