Beach Clean Up Exercised To Raise Awareness About Marine Litter
Beach Clean Up Exercised To Raise Awareness About Marine Litter
For raising awareness of the problem that marine litter poses to the environment an inaugural female-led beach clean-up exercise was organized in east and southern Africa.
The beach-clean up of about 337 kg of rubbish, generated from land-based activities was collected from Kenya alone. The members from the IMO-supported Association for Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa region (WOMESA), together with industry and local communities led the day. On 27 July, in celebration of the African Day of Seas and Oceans, the clean-up was organized also served to highlight the important role of African women in marine conservation for sustainable livelihoods.
Read more: What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Great Pacific Garbage Patch Facts
IMO has adopted an action plan to address marine litter from ships and is committed to supporting the achievement of targets to prevent and reduce marine pollution of all kinds, including marine debris, set out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.
Human carelessness and pollution, such as the dumping of plastic in waterways, has devastating consequences on marine life and this is a particular problem in the marine and coastal areas in Africa – which are also are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in the world, mainly attributed to the low adaptive capacity in the continent.
Reference: imo.org
