Environment awareness hits the West Coast 

Source: ONE News

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While a day at the beach on the West Coast in September might not appeal to everyone, one hardy group are out everyday of the entire month to bring awareness to the coast's environment.

The team heading up a festival, are making their way from Karamea down to Franz Josep, with one man making the entire 350 kilometres on foot.

"It's about engaging the West Coast communities and providing an invitation to come down and spend a day at the beach, have a whole lot of fun," says Guy Ryan, festival organiser.

In Karamea the community has come out in force to kick start day one.

The month long festival is aimed at making people on the coast think about the environment and getting them involved from the ground up.

Louis Brown taking his commitment to that next step by walking the 350 kilometres the festival covers.

"Pretty much every community down the whole of the coast is actually a support crew in a way," Brown says.

These first time organisers are getting right in the thick of it .

"It's been an amazing learning curve, a whole lot of young people coming together to bring this thing to life," says Ryan.

So far these guys have put in over 500 plants but they have got a long way to go over the next month as with the help of the community they hope to plant over 4000.

"Rain hail or shine you know, prepared for the worst, come down and get your hands dirty and just get amongst it," says Ryan.

If day one is anything to go by the festival could already be judged a success.