At the end of August 2026, the Firth of Forth became the focus of our biggest coordinated coastal clean-up to date.
From 28–30 August, communities, businesses, environmental groups and individuals came together around the coastline, from Dunbar to Fife Ness, for the first Big Forth Cleanup.
Impact at a Glance
Over the 3 days, 662 volunteers took part in 56 beach cleans, removing more than 7.2 tonnes of litter from the Firth.
What we found reflected the many different pressures on this huge working estuary. Alongside larger marine debris, there was plenty of everyday plastic, food and drink packaging, bottles and fragments of weathered plastic.
Much of this smaller material is likely to have travelled through rivers and other waterways before reaching the Firth of Forth, highlighting how closely our rivers, land and coastline are connected.
Fishing gear, rope and netting also featured prominently in the results, although these items are often among the largest and heaviest things found on the shoreline.
Coastline Covered
From Dunbar to Fife Ness, the Big Forth Cleanup reached every stretch of the Firth of Forth.
The map below marks every organised clean-up location from the 2026 event, a visual record of just how far this campaign travelled around one coastline.
The clean up also highlighted concerns around water quality.
Sewage-related litter, including wet wipes, cotton buds and sanitary products, was reported at many of the beach cleans. These items can reach the coastline through sewage spills, storm overflows and combined sewer overflows. Alongside the clean ups, we carried out water quality testing at a number of spots around the Firth of Forth, looking at E. coli and total coliform levels. Most sites showed excellent water quality, although some recorded elevated bacterial levels and were not advised for swimming at the time of testing.
Lobster Releases
The weekend was also about restoring the Firth, not simply removing what shouldn’t be there. Working alongside our Forth Marine Hatchery, we held three juvenile lobster release events at Kirkcaldy, Anstruther and North Berwick, releasing 110 hatchery reared lobsters into suitable habitat.
The releases were hugely popular with participants and provided a great learning opportunity, with the Forth Marine Hatchery team sharing their knowledge about lobster life cycles, marine restoration and the work being done to support the Firth of Forth’s marine environment.
Community
The Big Forth Cleanup showed what can happen when communities come together around one shared stretch of coastline.
A huge thank you to everyone who took part, organised a clean or supported the weekend, and particularly to Forth Ports for helping make this campaign possible.
We’re hoping to bring the Big Forth Cleanup back in June 2027.
If you’d like to hear when plans are confirmed and registration opens, you can register your name for updates here:
Beach Cleans – Resource Information
Please use the links below for general supporting information and resource for running a beach clean.