A virtual workshop to raise awareness and overcome marine litter and marine pollution after a report warned plastics will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050

The statistics about marine litter and marine pollution are frightening.

For instance, there are now more than 150 million tonnes of plastics in the oceans – including the Pacific Ocean. That’s about one tonne of plastics for every three tonnes of fish. This is according to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which has also warned that if the trend continues, plastics will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050.

For Julie Pillet, the Coordinator of the Committing to Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific (SWAP) project, this is a future she does not want for the Pacific region. The work her and her team execute at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) focuses on the management of marine litter, disaster waste and used oil. They are well aware that Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of marine litter, due to the particular value and sensitivity of their coastal environments.

For this reason, the SWAP team is convening a virtual workshop on Wednesday 06 April 2022 at 2pm Samoan time to discuss the issue and the tools that can be used to raise awareness and to overcome it.

“We are reaching out to all SPREP member countries, territories and beyond who are interested in helping address this issue to join us,” said Ms Pillet. “It is a virtual workshop where people are welcome to join the conversation. We want our communities to understand the origins and the impacts of marine litter in order to implement and develop tools to raise awareness to address this problem. We also want to provide them with practical information on how to prepare and conduct a clean-up campaign based on shared experiences as well as providing information about the value of conducting a statistically-sound waste survey and audit.”

The “Marine Litter Workshop: Tackling marine litter: from coastal clean-up to decision making” will feature key speakers including SPREP’s Solid Waste Management Advisor, Susana Takelau, Co-Founder and Programmes Director of Sustainable Coastlines, Camden Howitt, Outreach Manager, International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), Sarah Kollar and the CEO of The Vanuatu Environmental Science Society, Christina Shaw, among others.

“Marine pollution is the result of harmful chemicals entering the ocean, polluted waste waters, 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.”

The workshop will be conducted in English while an interpretation service will be provided for the French-speaking participants. It is anticipated that the workshop will be followed within two months by practical training on how to conduct a statistically sound waste survey and audit, and contribute to regional data sharing.

This story was written by Sosikeni Lesa, originally published at SPREP on 23 March 2022, reposted via PACNEWS.