Safer access to Olando Kepurė following a community clean-up
One of the most picturesque coastal spots in Lithuania – the cliff known as Olando Kepurė, situated between Giruliai and Karklė – attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. According to experts, there is no need to halt the cliff’s natural erosion, as the crumbling soil replenishes the beaches further north with sand; without erosion, the exposed cliff would eventually become gentler and overgrown with vegetation. However, heavy visitor numbers on the cliff’s upper terrace and access points need to be reduced. For this reason, the ‘The Dunes Need You’ initiative has been running for the second year.
This year, volunteers reinforced damaged areas of the upper terrace, levelled the surface, restored the soil cover around the trees and installed branch barriers. This work will help protect exposed tree roots, reduce topsoil erosion and create safer, more comfortable conditions for visitors to Olando Kepurė.
„It is very easy to entrust nature conservation work to contractors, but the value created by volunteering is considerably greater. People who have contributed to the upkeep of Olando Kepurė with their own hands gain a much better understanding of how this natural site is changing, the impact that heavy visitor numbers have on it and why it is important to behave responsibly every day. This initiative brings together nature conservation, responsible business and the community, whilst the work carried out helps to forge a lasting connection between people and nature, as well as protected areas,“ says Darius Nicius, Director of the Administration of Lithuania Minor Protected Areas.
The sixth wave of volunteering
‘The Dunes Need You’ initiative took place for the sixth time this year, and volunteers worked in Olando Kepurė for the second year running. Every year, the community clean-up brings together an ever-growing group of volunteers. It is estimated that around 650 people gathered here this year, who together restored more than 500 square metres of an eroding terrace, laid around 500 square metres of brushwood matting and used 100 tonnes of a mixture of gravel, clay and topsoil.
Following tradition, coastal residents, SBA employees, representatives of business and non-governmental organisations, schoolchildren, students, and teams of families and friends joined the initiative.
„‘The Dunes Need You’ has already become an integral part of SBA, a tradition that brings together a large group of people from all over Lithuania at the seaside every year. It is important to us to bring together colleagues, coastal residents, schoolchildren, students and all those who care about nature to contribute to the upkeep of Olando Kepurė and, more broadly, our coastline. Today, we saw once again just how much we can achieve when we work together. Of course, the clean-up results matter. Still, the emotions that arise here are no less valuable: a sense of community and the realisation that each of us can contribute to the environment in which we live and relax,“ emphasises Justas Baltrušis-Baltrušaitis, Director of Klaipėdos Baldai.
Once the work was finished, the volunteers gathered at the Seaside Regional Park visitor centre, where they were treated to hot coffee, tea, warming broth and kibinai.