The scattered rubbish being dumped in the forest by wasteful members of the community is the reason concerned residents are banding together.

The Bago Clean Up Day will take place on August 17 after Mr Oliver and others began to liaise through word-of-mouth and social networking sites.

Mat Oliver is a longtime member of the community, having been raised in nearby Long Flat. He regularly visits the forest and has witnessed the severe impact caused by wasteful members of the community.

“I’ve been going out there for the last 10 years or so,” Mr Oliver said.

“We head out there on bikes and four wheelers and we’ve been seeing the rubbish get worse for a while.”

Mr Oliver and his friends have noticed the quantity and variety of litter grow in recent years.

“In the last 12 months it’s the worst it’s ever been,” Mr Oliver said.

“People are dumping all kinds of things from mattresses to furniture to food. It’s just terrible out there at the moment.”

Mr Oliver has previously had some success in clearing part of the waste.

“There are a number of us that have done a fair bit of cleaning up over the years,” Mr Oliver said.

“The reality is that it’s the worst it’s ever been and it needs a lot more people to chip in.”

Social media is driving the campaign with the establishment of Facebook pages called Bago Clean-Up Day 17th August and Bago State Forest Clean Up Day.

Forestry Corporation of NSW and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council have lent their support to the action.

“Forestry are supplying bags for us to collect the waste as well as cut-proof gloves,” Mr Oliver said. “They’re also putting on a barbecue with Rotary to say thanks to everyone who helps.”

Council is providing those who help on the day with access to Cairncross Waste Management Facility.

People from throughout the Hastings are due to be supported by personnel source through social networking.

“At this stage we’ve definitely got about 50 or 60 people coming along, but we can always use more help,” Mr Oliver said.

“I’ve even had some blokes from Wagga contact us through the Facebook site asking where the forest is. When I told them it was near Port Macquarie they said not to worry and they’ll be up here helping out on the day.”

Those people who will be carting rubbish out of the forest on August 17 have a clear message for tossers.

“We end up finding a lot of papers with people’s details on it,” Mr Oliver said.

“We’ve been collecting them and we’ll take them to police in Port Macquarie later. For now, it’s more important for us to get the ball rolling with clearing the rubbish.”