To mark both National Maritime Week and International Coastal Clean Up Day, the Rotary Club of Bacolod Marapara, Negros Occidental, and a team of volunteers were out in force again over the weekend to continue the club’s Coastal Clean Up Drive.
Clean ups, organized in collaboration with the Rotaract Club of Marapara, took place at Bacolod City’s Reclamation Area and Barangays Banago and 35. Apart from club members, volunteers included Philippine Coast Guard, PNP Maritime Group and BREDCO personnel plus crew members from the Bacolod Tugboat Company. Some 100 bags of litter were collected.
“Marine litter presents a huge problem in our oceans, with some scientists warning that, by 2050, the quantity of plastics in the oceans will outweigh fish. We are pleased to make a small contribution to address the problem and to help raise awareness of the threat that maritime litter poses to the environment,” said Rolando Corona, president of Marapara Rotary.
Environmental issues are high on the agenda of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which spearheads Maritime Week. It has adopted an action plan to address maritime litter from ships and is committed to supporting the achievement of targets to prevent and reduce marine pollution of all kinds.