Group photo of training participants during the Marine Litter Training that was facilitated by Sustainable Coastlines and funded under the Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific ( SWAP Project).
Participants trained on conducting Marine Litter survey at Kakabona Community
Data and recording of waste by training participants
Sorting of the collected litter into different categories of waste
A one-day Marine Litter Training supported by the Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific Project (SWAP Project) Marine Litter Pilot Project was conducted last week on Tuesday 14th March 2023 at the Buadoko beach, Kakabona Community, Solomon Islands.
Marine Litter Audit was the focus of the training which aims to build local capacity to take on role of future litter monitoring and surveys in the country as well as to attend online Trainer workshops that will be delivered later under the pilot project. The training participants include community representatives, regional participants , a staff from Honiara City Council, two staff from Ministry of Health & Medical Services and several staff from the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management & Meteorology.
Sustainable Coastlines is a New Zealand charity that exists to bring people together to reduce plastic pollution and other litter to protect the Moana we all love. They were engaged under the Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific Project ( SWAP Project) to deliver the training under the Marine Litter pilot project for project implementing countries.
A total of 30 participants were involved in the one-day training conducted at Buadoko Beach yesterday. Participants have the opportunity to get hands on practice different components of the Marine Litter Training. This includes, learning about the health and safety of beach clean-ups and surveys, preparing the site for the litter survey, collection of the litter, sorting and data collection of the sorted wastes into different categories.
From a 10m x 6m area that was audited during the training, a total of 500 liters of litter weighing a total of 87.5 kgs was removed and comprised a total of 4480 items of litter (larger than 5mm) for a measured litter density of 74667 items of litter per 1000m². Plastics makes up the highest composition out of the different waste categories assessed with a total count 2639 and total weight of 38,124 grams. This is one of the highest litter densities that was ever measured using the litter intelligence methodology. To see and view more about the data from the communities see this link: https://litterintelligence.org/data/survey?id=2284.
This program official launches the marine litter pilot project in Solomon Islands under the SWAP Project and is implemented in collaboration between the Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management & Meteorology, Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific Project (SWAP Project), Sustainable Coastlines & the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and funded by the France Development Agency ( Agence française de développement, AFD). Fishing Village Community and Gizo Community are two other communities that will benefit from the Marine Litter pilot project in Solomon Islands.
Source: ECD Press