Message of the Director-General of UNESCO to the inaugural ceremony of
The Beach Cleanup initiative of the Green Front of Iran
Today well over half of the world's population lives in coastal areas and, by the end of the first decade of the new millenium, an estimated 70-80% will live in close proximity to the oceans and seas. Billions of people, poor and rich alike, depend on local coastal fishing for most of their animal food protein, and other coastal resources for sustenance, development and recreation .
Billion of pounds of solid debris were once dumped into the oceans and seas every year. The amount of debris left on beaches by tourists or local people worldwide is indubitably larger than any published estimation . Most of this debris consists of plastics, which constitute some 75% of all ‘recreational' waste found on beaches.
All of this material is in one way or another harmful to marine coastal organisms as well as to people .
People are the problem, but people are also the solution. Marine debris is one pollution problem that individuals can solve by direct , individual action. Two changes are needed: (i) a change in the behaviors that produce debris, and
(ii) The development of continuous cleanup activities. Together both provide solutions to a global problem that will change for the better the face of our coasts. These two changes may be encouraged through continuous public awareness programmes highlighting the fragility and importance of coastal ecosystems .
[TOP]
Beach cleanup is about cooperation and partnerships. Beach cleanup brings people together - school children, fishermen, boat owners , government employees, port authority personnel, teachers, factory workers, scuba divers, and politicians, as well as a number of
Environmental, cultural, and civic organizations .
All over the world beach cleanup activities like the one proposed by the Green Front of Iran for the southern coast of the Caspian Sea , are being carried out regularly by international agencies, NGOs and volunteers , children and adults, who are concerned with the ecological and economic problems caused by polluted beaches .
Recognizing the huge public interest in oceans and seas, the past year , 1998 , was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of the Ocean (IYO), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO was identified as a leading agency for coordinating the IYO activities worldwide. One of the proposals of the IYO is to invite all countries to consider the joint and simultaneous implementation of a World Clean-up Beach Day at the end of Boreal Fall/Austral Spring. The main objective of this initiative is to have a single day in which millions of people will be mobilized worldwide through coordinated actions to cleanup beaches. The large number of positive responses to this proposal encourages its implementation. A new web page on the IOC web-site (http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb) will be specially dedicated to beach cleanup. Through this web page we expect to open a virtual forum to disseminate information about beach cleanup initiatives, so as to coordinate, support and develop worldwide efforts in a more effective way .
NGO's are ideal partners to implement beach cleanup programmes, and today I strongly congratulate and encourage Iran 's present community-based beach cleanup initiative in our world largest lake, the Caspian Sea .
[TOP]
