Queen Sofía joins nature reserve rubbish clean-up day

'QUEEN Mum' HRH Sofía has been on her hands and knees filling up bin-bags again – this time as part of a nationwide clean-up summons organised by SEO BirdLife's Libera project and major recycling firm Ecoembes.

Volunteers all over Spain were urged to give approximately two hours of their time on Saturday morning as part of a campaign for everyone to clear up one square metre of rubbish from an area of nature.

In practice, those who take part in these regular clear-up days tend to get far more than a square metre free from litter – Queen Sofía especially, given that she is frequently on the volunteer team.

Last year, in September, she joined in a mass clean-up on a Málaga beach, and on Saturday, got stuck in with the group working in the Soto de las Juntas nature reserve area in Madrid.

Over 11,000 people took part across the country at the weekend, tackling 1,100 rural areas – from National Parks such as the Guadarrama in Madrid and the Monfragüe near Plasencia in the Extremadura province of Cáceres, through to local nature reserves such as the Arribas del Duero in the province of Salamanca, the Cap de Creus on the Costa Brava, and the Marjal, or huge salt marshes in Pego, which straddle the borders of the provinces of Alicante and Valencia.

Queen Sofía is a patron of SEO BirdLife, and tries to join in their volunteer projects as much as possible, showing no signs of wanting to take a back seat despite her 82-and-a-half years of age.

The mother of the current reigning monarch King Felipe VI was photographed with rubber gloves, a large yellow bin-bag and wearing a mask, scooping up litter and junk by hand.

SEO BirdLife director Miguel López says the charity has succeeded in raising awareness over the past five years of the huge problem rubbish in nature zones poses – a problem which, he says, 'should never have had to have arisen'.

He says the organisation's goal is to 'put an end to' the root causes of the issue through public awareness, a 'zero waste' system and a circular economy, and 'a consumer approach consistent with the needs of our planet and the limits of its capacity'.

Ecoembes' managing director Óscar Martín says the 'one metre for nature' rubbish-collection campaign is now showing a 'growing concern among society' about waste pollution – and the public's being worried and making an effort to prevent it is an 'essential step forward' in 'repairing the damage' caused by littering and fly-tipping in rural and coastal areas.