SPREP/SWAP: Marine Litter Workshop

Marine Litter Workshop: Tackling marine litter: from coastal clean-up to decision making

Wednesday 6^th April 2022 – 2pm (Samoa time)

Why a workshop on marine litter?

Marine pollution is the result of harmful chemicals entering the ocean, 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 intentionally thrown from shore or 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 plastics in the oceans. That's about one tonne of plastics for every three tonnes of fish. If the trend continues, plastics will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050.

Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of marine litter, due to the particular value and sensitivity of their coastal environments.

To discuss this issue and the tools that can be used in the struggle against this marine litter problem (awareness, clean-ups, audits, etc.), SPREP, through the AFD-Funded SWAP (Committing to Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific) project plans to conduct a two-hour virtual meeting to be held on Wednesday 6^th April 2022 at 2pm Samoa time).

Note: the workshop will be conducted in English while an interpretation service will be provided for the French speaking participants.

What are the objectives of the marine litter workshop?

It is designed for the participants to:

Understand the origins and the impacts of marine litter in order to implement and develop tools to raise awareness to address this problem
Get practical information on how to prepare and conduct a clean-up campaign based on shared experiences
Be informed about the value of conducting a statistically-sound waste survey and audit.

Note: It is anticipated that the workshop will be followed within two months by a practical training on how to conduct a statistically-sound waste survey and audit.

How to access the virtual workshop?

To access the workshop, please register first using the Online Form. You will receive a Zoom link to join the workshop in the confirmation email.

Agenda

SPREP/SWAP Online workshop on Marine Litter Management
2:00pm – 2:04pm	Introduction to the logistical arrangements for the meeting	InsightPact
2:04pm – 2:07pm	Welcome	Mr Anthony Talouli WMPC, Acting Director
2:07pm – 2:10pm	Overview of the workshop (SWAP)	Mrs Julie Pillet WMPC, SWAP Project Coordinator
2:10pm – 2:15pm	Video of the International Coastal Clean-up Day	VESS video
2:15pm – 2:20pm	Photo	InsightPact
2:20pm – 2:35pm	Overview of the marine litter problem: origin, effects, etc.	Ms. Susana Telakau WMPC, Solid Waste Management Adviser
2:35pm – 2:45pm	How to raise awareness to address this problem and reduce the production of marine litter	Mr Camden Howitt Co-Founder and Programmes Director of Sustainable Coastlines
2:45pm – 3:05pm	Organisation of coastlines and beaches clean-ups	Mrs Sarah Kollar Outreach Manager, International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) / Trash Free Seas® Program Ocean Conservancy
3:05pm – 3:15pm	Sharing of experience in organising beach clean-ups	Mrs Christina Shaw CEO of The Vanuatu Environmental Science Society
3:15pm – 3:35pm	Waste audit	Mr Camden Howitt Co-Founder and Programmes Director of Sustainable Coastlines
3:35pm – 4:00pm	Discussion	Mrs Julie Pillet WMPC, SWAP Project Coordinator
4:00pm – 4:05pm	Session Close	Mr Anthony Talouli WMPC, Acting Director
4:05pm – 4:10pm	Video of the International Coastal Clean-up Day	Video “Foyer socio-educatif Wallis”
4:10pm – 4:15pm	Workshop Assessment	InsightPact

Speakers

Mr Anthony Talouli WMPC, Acting Director	Anthony Talouli is a Fijian national and has an engineering (Aerospace Engineer) and management background with 25 years of work experience in aviation and oil industry in the Pacific. Anthony joined SPREP in 2007 as the Pollution Adviser with a role of strategic programme leadership management and planning, programme performance monitoring and reporting, member and donor liaison, as well as project coordination, implementation and management.
Mrs Julie Pillet WMPC, SWAP Project Coordinator	Mrs. Julie Pillet is a French civil engineer with over 13 years’ experience in the field of Waste Management. She had been working for 12 years for a French Consulting Firm as a Project Manager. She conducted numerous studies for the design, development and implementation or rehabilitation of landfills, and waste collection and recovery facilities. Since January 2021, Julie has been the Coordinator of the SWAP project funded by the Agence française de Développement (AFD), which focuses on the management of marine litter, disaster waste and used oil, as well as an overarching issue related to sustainable financing mechanisms.
Mrs Susana Telakau WMPC, Solid Waste Management Adviser	Ms. Susana Minute Telakau is the Solid Waste Management Adviser for SPREP. As the Solid Waste Management Adviser, she provides strategic, policy and technical advice, support, and assistance to SPREP Members on solid waste management issues, programmes and projects. She was the former Assistant Secretary for the Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure, Environment, Labour, Meterology and Disaster of the Government of Tuvalu. Prior to that, she was the Director for the Department of Waste Management (DWM) of the Government of Tuvalu for many years. She is motivated and eager to assist the PICTs in the area of solid waste management and finding solutions that will minimize the increasing impacts of solid waste on the environment and public health. She wants to emphasise the importance of proper waste management and Circular Economy for PICTs and to change the mindset of the Pacific communities that wastes are resources if managed well.
Mr Camden Howitt Co-Founder and Programmes Director of Sustainable Coastlines	Camden Howitt is Co-Founder & Programmes Director of New Zealand NGO Sustainable Coastlines, an Edmund Hillary Fellow and a member of the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance. A passionate advocate for our oceans and rivers, Camden combines over a decade of experience in strategy, community engagement and programme design with a drive for collaboration. Howitt has worked on community environmental solutions around Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands, and now spearheads the NGO’s new program Litter Intelligence, combining citizen science with innovative technology to monitor and prevent marine litter.
Mrs Sarah Kollar Outreach Manager, International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) / Trash Free Seas® Program Ocean Conservancy	Sarah Kollar serves as the Outreach Manager for the International Coastal Cleanup under Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Program®. She enjoys working with a fantastic network of beach and waterway clean-up organizers worldwide, along with passionate educators and individuals who take action on the issue in their own communities. She manages the creation and distribution of education and outreach materials for action-based solutions and maintains Ocean Conservancy’s data collection tools including the Clean Swell app and online ocean trash database. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Eckerd College and has been with Ocean Conservancy for eight years. She’s had the pleasure of representing the Trash Free Seas Program® at a number of local, state and national marine debris meetings and conferences.
Mrs Christina Shaw CEO of The Vanuatu Environmental Science Society	Christina Shaw, originally a veterinary surgeon from England, has lived in Vanuatu for the last 13 years. In 2014 she started a conservation organisation The Vanuatu Environmental Science Society after completing a masters in Veterinary Conservation medicine from Murdoch University, Australia. VESS’s main focus is on protecting Vanuatu’s threatened and endemic species such as Vanuatu’s flying foxes and dugongs as well as protecting important ecosystems. Christina and her husband are partners in the scuba diving business Big Blue Vanuatu. Through diving, Christina encountered firsthand, the plastic pollution problem affecting coral reefs and other marine fauna. Both VESS and Big Blue have been raising awareness about the problem of plastics in our oceans and have conducted clean-ups in the water and on the land for many years. The data from our clean-ups has been used to support the single-use-plastic bans that have recently come into force in Vanuatu. VESS has been the coordinating partner in Vanuatu for the International Coastal Cleanup since 2016.

This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the AFD. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the AFD.