Africa-Press – Mozambique. In the about 10 months of this year so far elapsed, more than 100,000 tons of waste have been collected from the Costa do Sol and Macaneta beaches in the city and province of Maputo, revealing the scale of the problem of garbage on beaches across the country.
Data from the Ministry of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries indicate that 12.5 million tons of waste, plastics in particular, are deposited in the sea every year.
Despite these frightening numbers, there has been a reduction in garbage by the sea – as a result of the ban on going to beaches, according to Adelson Muthemba, coordinator of the Marine Waste programme at Cooperativa Repensar.
“This year, we collected more than 100,000 tons of waste. It is marine waste that comes not only from Mozambique, but is also washed in from other countries. We can see this from the labels on some plastic bottles, which have text from Indonesia, Chile, Japan, and so on,” Muthemba explains.
The impact of this waste is undeniable. Waste deposited in the sea kills around 100,000 marine mammals and a million birds every year. This destabilises ecosystems and compromises the blue economy, in a country where a large part of the population gains its livelihood from the sea.
“We have to work hard on environmental education, which is a very strong tool for changing the awareness of Mozambicans, so that we can have a more sustainable and more aware management,” says Muthemba. “In general, we have to work in schools so that we can teach children how to reduce waste”.
For Cooperativa Repensar, the problem of marine waste crosses borders, which is why it says that it is necessary for all countries to tackle the problem. With this in mind, founding member Carlos Serra will participate in the second edition of the Crescendo Azul Conference between 18 and 19 November.
By
Jose Joao
