A virtual Mediterranean conference on the involvement of science and the socio-economic sector on marine litter issue, will gather for two days (from 29 to 30 April) more than 20 speakers from four Mediterranean countries (Tunisia, Italy, Algeria, and Lebanon) coming from scientific sectors, public and private institutions, NGOs, and people working on marine litter in the Mediterranean basin.
An event organised by National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies (INSTM) as official partner of the COMMON project, that aims to discuss the involvement of science and the socio-economic sector on the issue of marine litter, identify barriers, and propose solutions to reduce this global issue.
«The initiative stems from the need to gather experts around the Mediterranean from different sectors to discuss and share their respective experiences on marine litter issue. Beyond the simple preview, we want to go even further with the COMMON conference. It will be about being able to create the necessary conditions for making concrete, responsible, and lastingly effective commitments through innovative solutions» declares Sana Ben Ismail Oceanographer at INSTM and COMMON project coordinator for the pilot area of Monastir.
According to the UNEP / MAP report “Marine Litter Assessment in the Mediterranean – 2015”, 62 million pieces of debris are floating on the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, but this is only the tip of the iceberg: most marine litter is hidden in the seabed. What we see floating is only 0.5%, while over 70% of the debris is deposited on the seabed.
«Nowadays we live in a society where plastic is everywhere. It is a major and innovative challenge to gather all the stakeholders to rethink our relationship with this material and find technical, regulatory and behavioral solutions to make it less damaging to the environment» according to Hechmi Missaoui Director General of the INSTM.
Registration are still available at this link
The conference is promoted by COMMON project (COastal Management and Monitoring Network for tackling marine litter in Mediterranean sea), a Eu-funded project under the Eni CBC Med Programme, coordinated by the Italian NGO Legambiente which gather the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies -INSTM (Tunisia), the University of Siena (Italy), the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (Italy), the environmental NGO Amwaj (Lebanon), the University of Sousse (Tunisia) and tyre national park the Tyre Nature Coast Reserve (Lebanon), in order to apply the principles of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) to fight against marine litter, by improving knowledge of the phenomenon, and environmental performance in 5 pilot coastal zones: 2 in Italy, 2 in Tunisia and 1 in Lebanon. In Tunisia, the island of Kuriat and the coasts of Monastir are chosen as pilot sites.
Will attend the event, among others: Samira Rafrafi, Director in charge of cross-border basin MED cooperation, Salem Miladi (National Hub Tunisia), Awatef Messai (Director at the Ministry of the Environment and Local Affairs), Mr. Elies Hamza (President of IRESA/ Ministery of Agriculture), Elisa Scocchera (Legambiente), Anis Guerfi (Plastic Expert)