Good news from the small world that is trying to limit the environmental damage that seems largely irreversible now, even if there is still a lot to do.
More and more tourists enchanted by the beauty of the beaches and the sea of Watamu, occupy part of their holiday to clean it from plastic and waste.
Complicit also some beach operators who have taken the story to heart, such as Anthony "Toyota" Furaha at Jacaranda Bay, and of course thanks to the tireless work of the Watamu Marine Association and the recycling center Eco World in Dabaso, where you can bring the collected plastic, Watamu has sensitized many tourists to be responsible for maintaining this paradise, but most of the visitors of the beautiful bays of the resort continues to give a damn and many locals propose for cleaning, but only for a fee.
"Every time I buy the bags and I personally collect plastic and various rubbish - Rina Furegato, an Italian pensioner who has a house in Watamu, confirms - The other day with the boys of the beach, Rosolino and company, which I try in every way to raise awareness, we cleaned, as far as possible, a small beach after the Garoda. When there is the low, from my house I take a small road that leads directly to this wonderful beach, which I found full of plastic waste, I think more x sea storms than for "legacies" of people passing through.
Rita is not the only one, many people write to us reporting their days of cleaning and sending us eloquent photos.
Anthony Furaha instead decided that his is a mission and founded an association, which asks for donations to buy bags and pay for the transport of what is collected daily (they are quintals and quintals between slippers, lighters, toothbrushes, bottles and their caps and various microplastics). Unfortunately, however, he still remains a rare and isolated case.
Also Olivia and Nelly, tourists who come fifteen days a year to Watamu, write us about their collection, bringing some boys from a school to the beach. "For us a holiday without respecting the environment would not make sense - the girls say - so we arm ourselves with gloves and bags and set a good example, hoping that other tourists and especially many Kenyans understand that it is for their own good that we do it. However, we enjoy it and we do it gladly, because by now we have this land in our hearts".
Like them there are many other foreigners who have this habit, from the guests of the foundation A Rocha, along Turtle Bay Beach, to the artist Andy Mc Naughton who lives in a house on the beach and collects tons of plastic waste to make works of art.
"There's no way they can understand that a clean beach is a credit to their work," explains Rina again, "they compliment me when they see me collecting everything, but nobody moves to do it unless they get paid. Sometimes I pay them a drink to help me, but they don't get into the habit of lowering themselves to pick up what they often throw away".