Expert rallies vs marine plastic pollution

FILE: (Photo: Greenpeace Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — An expert raised urgency for international action against marine pollution from plastics, warning this degradation increasingly threatens humans and the environment.

“This must stop,” UNEP Executive Director Dr. Erik Solheim said Wednesday (Oct. 25) in Manila at the continuing Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) 12th Conference of the Parties (COP 12).

He said concerted efforts of both public and private sectors would make a difference in addressing pollution from plastics. Governments worldwide must mobilize to make the right action, he noted. “Mobilize citizens for the right practices,” he said.

Right practices include not throwing plastics into oceans, he said. Manufacturers of plastic must also look into the possibility of using environment-friendly alternatives for making their products, he added.

He said plastic is a very useful material but its improper disposal would affect health, the environment, and species. A 2016 UNEP report said global production of plastics in 2014 hit 311 million tons.

Estimates show between 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic reached oceans, noted UNEP.

“Plastic debris and microplastics are transported by ocean currents across borders,” UNEP said, citing poor waste and wastewater management, preventable accidental losses and illegal dumping as possible reasons for this leakage.

UNEP said such leakage had serious environmental, social and economic consequences as it harms wildlife, safety of sea transport, fisheries, tourism, and recreation.

Plastic pollution also threatens marine ecosystems, UNEP noted. CMS is an inter-governmental treaty under UNEP and provides the global platform for conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and habitats of these species.

Parties to CMS agree to protect and conserve migratory species particularly those at high risk of extinction. “Their future is our future – sustainable development for wildlife and people” is CMS COP 12’s theme and highlights the link between migratory species’ conservation and sustainable development.

“That future starts now,” CMS Executive Secretary Dr. Bradnee Chambers said at COP 12’s opening this week, highlighting the urgency for more international cooperation on migratory specie conservation.

He cited the need for elevating conservation efforts so people can continue benefiting from services migratory species provide. Migratory species are animals that cyclically and predictably cross one or more national jurisdictional boundaries in response to seasons, availability of food or need to reproduce, said the Philippines’ Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB).

“Animal migration can be found in all major animal groups including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects and crustaceans,” BMB said.

Experts cited food, pollination and pest control as among migratory species’ benefits. Such species also have potential as medicinal sources and eco-tourism draws, they added.  (PNA)