Marine Debris Management
Photo credit: Vanuatu Environmental Science Society (VESS)
Marine pollution results from entry into the ocean of harmful chemicals, polluted wastewaters, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, garbage from ships, and the spread of invasive organisms.
A major source of marine pollution is related to plastics that are voluntarily brought in from the shore or from boats or are unintentionally carried by winds or streams.
A report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has revealed that there are now over 150 million tonnes of plastic in the oceans. That's about one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish. If the trend continues, plastic will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050. Noted that Pacific Ocean is also characterized by the Pacific Garbage Patch. This is a large areas of marine debris concentration that are formed by rotating ocean currents. A garbage patch is made up of tiny plastic
pieces called “microplastics” that are less than 5 millimeters long. Garbage Patch exist all throughout the ocean, but the Pacific Garbage Patch just happens to be the most famous and covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers
Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of marine litter, due to the particular value and sensitivity of their coastal environments.
What does the SWAP project include in marine litter management?
This thematic area will be addressed by the SWAP project through two activities:
-
Integration of a suitable database to share information among the different stakeholders in the Pacific region;
-
Organisation of clean-up campaigns in certain marine protected and nesting areas.
Activities will be held in Fiji, French Polynesia, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
Within this thematic, SWAP project participated in the International Coastal Clean-up Day by financing 10 beach clean-up activities.
To know more
The last assessment report on marine litter led by UNEP is available for download: “From pollution to solution - A global assessment of marine litter and plastic pollution” .
For general information about marine debris, you can consult the Document “Information and Common Questions on Marine Debris”, Compiled by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.
For a general overview about the Marine Litter problem, you can consult the Document “Marine Litter - Vital Graphics”, developed by UNEP and GRID.
An Action Plan to minimise marine litter across the Pacific Island Countries and Territories was developed by SPREP.
For further information on marine debris, several documents were developed in collaboration between SPREP and UNEP such as the following documents:
1. “MARINE DEBRIS, MICROPLASTICS AND POLLUTION”
2. “OUR PACIFIC OCEAN, OUR STORIES, Pacific Ocean or Plastic Ocean?”
For more information on existing plastic waste management technologies, you can consult the document "PLASTIC WASTE Technology Management Options" developed by the PacWaste Plus Program.
SWAP Production
International Coastal Clean-up Day 2021
In September 2021, SWAP participated in the International Coastal Clean-up Day (ICCD2021) providing funding support to ten associations to conduct clean-up campaign and awareness activities. The full activity report of the event is available on SPREP's Virtual Library: https://library.sprep.org/content/committing-sustainable-waste-actions-pacific-swap-marine-litter-workshop-activity-report
All the videos produced by associations involved in this activity are available here.
SPREP/SWAP Marine Litter Workshop
As a follow-up of the ICCD2021, SWAP held in April 2022 a Marine Litter Workshop.
This 2-hour online workshop included four parts:
- The first part aimed to provide an overview of the marine litter problem: origins and sources of production of marine litter, potential impacts (financial revenues, human health, aquatic life, etc.) and how to raise awareness to address this issue;
- The second part focused on the preparation and organization of a coastal clean-up campaign with the sharing of experience from an association that has been conducting clean-ups for several years;
- The third part aimed to inform participants about the value of conducting a statistically reliable waste survey and audit during a beach clean-up using the United Nations Methodology. The objective of this session was to make the audience aware of the value of conducting this type of waste audit as a common tool for public awareness and decision making by authorities; and
- The workshop ended with a A/Q session.
The recording of the Marine Litter Workshop is available on SPREP YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ9QoZtJmw4&list=PLHKcA8pmzZqux_aQEgAEZfpTc7oGh_63C&index=13
The workshop report is also available on SPREP's Virtual Library: https://library.sprep.org/content/committing-sustainable-waste-actions-pacific-swap-marine-litter-workshop-activity-report
The SWAP project is implementing pilot projects in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu to address marine litter: local communities undertake coastal clean-up campaigns, including a waste audit and data collection over a period of 6 months, in a specific area, in order to monitor the evolution of marine litter during this timeframe.
Meanwhile, awareness raising activities are performed.
