Download Monitoring marine litter in the Mediterranean sea

Monitoring marine litter in the
Mediterranean sea
Giorgio Zampetti, Stefania Di Vito – scientific office of
Legambiente
Brussels, February 1 2017 – Tackling marine litter in the Mediterranean, from research to action
Legambiente and the Marine Strategy
Legambiente
Goletta Verde
is the most widespread environmental
organization in Italy, created in 1980
for the safeguard of the environment,
for the promotion of sustainable.
it is the widest campaign of analysis and information
about sea pollution even promoted and conducted
by an environmental organization. Every Summer,
since 1986, it monitored the quality of Italian seas.
With this activity Legambiente want to contribute to the Marine Strategy Directive (2008/56),
which requires Member States to monitor the state of seas and take the measures needed to
reach or maintain its ‘good environmental status’ by 2020.
"Properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and
marine environment“
Floating macro litter in Italian sea
❑ 2014
❑ 2015
❑ 2016
In 2016:
The average concentration of wastes in
the investigated area is 57,6 items / sq km
of the sea
The 95.7% of the waste detected
consists of plastic.
Floating plastic are just the tip of the iceberg
Among the most
common objects there
are single-use plastics, in
particular plastic bags,
and other object that
could be linked to
fishing activities (as net
and lines, or polystyrene
box for example).
www.legambiente.it/marinelitter
Floating micro litter in Italian sea
Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5mm
mm.
They can have a primary origin like pre-production
pellets, or secondary, derived from the
disintegration of larger items by physical action
Their presence increase constantly in the
environment; dispersed in marine and terrestrial
ecosystems, it is very difficult to quantify their
effects, pollution and it is impossible to remove
them completely.
www.legambiente.it/marinelitter
Beach litter in Italian shore
Only in 2016 edition 47 beaches were monitored. Over 33.000 trash have been
recorded, an average of 714 waste items every 100 square meters. The most
common material found was plastic, around 76%.
The packaging category represents the 56% of urban mismanaged waste buried in
the sand, and 75% of this is disposable plastic packaging.
www.legambiente.it/beachlitter
Floating micro litter in Italian lakes
Six lakes analyzed
from June to July 2016
We used a manta trawl, a sampling
floating instrument equipped with an
ultrafine mesh of 330 micrometers.
Micro plastic particles were found in
every single sample, in every lake
considered.
www.legambiente.it/marinelitter
How much does they cost?
According to a study commissioned by the European Union , the EU marine litter costs well
476.8 million euro per year taking into account only tourism and fishing sector.
In particular, the total estimated cost for all EU beaches cleaning is 411.75 million euros and the
impact on the fishing industry is estimated around 61.7 million euro per year.*
*data source: Arcadis “Marine litter study to support the establishment on an initial quantitative headline” (2013)
CLEAN SEA LIFE - LIFE15 GIE/IT/000999
WWW.CLEANSEALIFE.IT FACEBOOK.COM/CLEANSEALIFE
TWITTER.COM/CLEANSEALIFE
THE PROJECT
The overall aim of the Clean Sea LIFE project, financed under the LIFE Programme, is to support the application of the
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and EU biodiversity policy relating to marine litter.
The specific objectives are:
❖To increase awareness of marine litter, empowering citizens to become part of the solution;
❖To remove existing litter, including lost fishing gear, and prevent further littering;
❖To promote "fishing for litter" initiatives and to train fishing industry professionals in responsible practices;
❖To provide guidelines for the management of marine litter, increase exchange of knowledge and the uptake of best
practices and assist authorities in achieving a Good Environmental Status of the sea, as required under the Marine
Strategy Framework Directive.
MEDSEALITTER
Developing Mediterranean-specific protocols to protect biodiversity from litter impact at
basin and local MPAs scales
THE PROJECT
The project aims at accomplishing and validating, within the Mediterranean basin, systematic protocols for monitoring
marine litter and its potential effect on key biodiversity species. This will allow to strengthening effective management
within MPAs and by coordinating conservation measures across MPAs.
PARTNERS
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
➔
Cinque Terre National Park and Marine Protected area, ITALY
Legambiente Onlus, ITALY
Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), ITALY
University of Barcelona, SPAIN
MEDASSET - Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles – GREECE
University of Valencia, SPAIN
Municipality of Villasimius - Capo Carbonara Marine Protected Area, ITALY
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, FRANCE
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, GREECE
EcoOcean Institute, FRANCE
Municipality of Favignana – Managing Body of Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area, ITALY
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
www.legambiente.it/marinelitter