Over 300 Waterford people have clean-ups planned this week, as today marks World Ocean Day.
World Ocean Day is celebrated on June 8th every year, and people are invited to unite and take action for the waters around us. It has been recognised since 1992 when Canada proposed the concept at the Earth Summit in Rio.
The aim is to highlight the important role the ocean plays in the planet.
Fair Seas recognises areas of interest
Fair Seas, a coalition of Ireland's leading environmental NGOs and networks, has launched a new report about identifying potential locations for Marine Protected Areas in Irish waters.
The report shows how it would be possible to protect 36% of Ireland's ocean territory, enabling the country to meet its 2030 European targets.
One of the 16 Areas of Interest is the South East Coast which takes in Waterford. In this area, there is a 130km long and 20km wide cod spawning ground, which is one of only two in Irish waters. Seabirds with colonies on the east coast of Ireland, as well as the coast of Wales and Cornwall in England depend on this area for vital foraging during chick-rearing.
What Waterford is doing for World Ocean Day
Throughout the week, there will be clean-ups across Waterford being conducted by different groups and schools, some of which are privately organised.
Scoil na mBráithre are undertaking a clean-up of their local area and Clonea beach. This is open to the public and will take place tomorrow (Thursday).
Locals surrounding Garraus beach will be undertaking a clean-up on Saturday the 11th and members of the public are also welcome to come along.
Private clean-ups are taking place in Tramore, Woodstown, and Dungarvan.
For information regarding the time and meeting point of the clean-ups, e-mail [email protected].
Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager said:
“We were so overwhelmed with the support received from the public. In under 72 hours over 230 clean-ups had already registered on the Clean Coasts website. Now over 4,000 volunteers are set to take action for World Ocean Day by organising or joining a clean-up event around Ireland.”
Background Information
The events were organised by Clean Costs and National Spring Clean who teamed up to provide communities around Ireland with free clean-up kits.
One of the biggest issues affecting our ocean is marine litter. Statistics show this can be traced back to people dropping rubbish in towns and cities.
This year's focus is the 30X30 campaign. In order to create a healthy ocean with abundant wildlife and to stabilise the climate, it is critical that 30% of our planet’s lands, waters, and oceans are protected by 2030.
In 2021, the initiative changed its name from “World Oceans Day” to “World Ocean Day” in order to highlight the fact that we are all connected by one large ocean that supports all life on the planet by producing most of the oxygen we breathe and regulating climate. This means that each piece of marine litter removed from a beach, river, lake, park, or street in Ireland, will have a positive impact on a global scale.
To hear more about what Waterford people do to help the planet, see what they got up to for World Environment Day last week.
