Launched in Rome the new ENI CBC MED European project\nto tackle Marine litter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nemergency of plastic\npollution concerns the whole Mediterranean: in Tunisia, 620 thousand kg of unsorted<\/em> <\/em>plastic<\/em> <\/em>per day, 124 thousand in Lebanon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Goletta Verde presented new data on floating<\/em>: 99% of analysed\nwaste is plastic<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marine litter is known to be currently a widespread pollution problem, especially in the Mediterranean basin, but records on the ML impact in the southern and eastern part are less known. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly clear the need of a collective response to address Marine Litter with an integrated approach, in which the various political actors and civil society can work together and in a coordinated way. That’s how is born COMMON (COastal Management and MOnitoring Network for tackling marine litter in Mediterranean Sea)<\/strong>, European project which aims at building a collaboration network between Italy, Tunisia and Lebanon, to support a correct management of Marine Litter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project, funded\nby the European\nUnion under the ENI CBC MED programme<\/strong>, with a budget\nof 2.2 million euros, gathers Legambiente, the University of Siena, the National Institute of Sciences\nand Technologies of the Sea of Tunisia, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, the Lebanese\nNGO Amwaj of the Environment, the University of Sousse\nand the natural\nreserve of Tire, in Lebanon.\nOne common goal: tackling Marine Litter using the principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in 5<\/strong> <\/strong>pilot areas<\/strong>, two in Italy (Maremma, Puglia),\ntwo in Tunisia (Kuriat Island e Monastir)\nand one in Lebanon (Tire) in order to development use and monitoring of resources\nand promote an effective participatory approach involving stakeholders and local communities, with the ambition\nto test a model possibly<\/strong> <\/strong>transferable<\/strong> <\/strong>throughout<\/strong> <\/strong>the whole Mediterranean basin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMON wants to improve the awareness on marine litter issue, to develop training and capacity building activities for local and regional authorities, Marine Protected Areas, Sea Turtle Rescue centres and citizens in general. It will activate awareness-raising campaigns and networking activities, will involve local communities and economic operators in the integration of marine waste management and disposal with the ICZM approach. Given the nature of marine environments, not isolated from the surrounding context, sea-related problems can only be tackled at the community level and with a multi-stakeholder approach. “Marine litter continues to receive increasing attention as one of the most complex challenges in the Mediterranean region. It has implications on all aspects of human life, it impacts negatively vital economic sectors, from tourism to fishing, brings economic losses to individuals, enterprises and communities. Yet, its impact is not fully understood nor assessed”, said Serena Carpentieri, <\/strong>Deputy Director of Legambiente Onlus. \u201cTo face this emergency it is necessary, on the one hand, to acquire new knowledge on the topic, on the other hand, to support decision-making processes of prevention and management on land. For this reason, the COMMON project aims to study effective governance models in some pilot areas, the first step to tackle the problem at the Mediterranean level “.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the main ambitions\nof the COMMON project is the management of a permanent network that points to the coordination of Sea Turtle Rescue\nCentres in order to investigate the problem\nof Marine Litter, which sees Italy, Tunisia\nand Lebanon involved\nin the front line. Moreover,\nin accordance with the 2019\/904 European Directive \u2018on the\nreduction of the impact of certain\nplastic products on the\nenvironment<\/em>\u2019, and with\nthe previous legislation on the limit use of plastic\nbags, COMMON<\/strong> could encourage and promote\nthe ban of<\/strong> <\/strong>plastic bags throughout the Mediterranean basin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Plastic is, once again, the queen of Marine\nLitter: during the press conference to launch\nCOMMON, Legambiente has released\nthe latest Goletta Verde <\/strong>data on floating, results of macro-litter monitoring floating along the Italian\ncoasts. From July to August 2019, for over 296 km of navigation, the technical team of Goletta Verde,\na monitoring and information campaign\non Italian seas health state<\/strong>, observed an average of 230 itemper\nkm2. Human activities are confirmed\nas the main sources\nof waste dispersed on the sea: 74.6% of the analysed\nwaste has an anthropogenic origin and only 25.4% has a natural origin. The highest percentage of marine litter is recorded\nin the Tyrrhenian Sea (51.5%)\nfollowed by the Adriatic (40.9%) and the Ionian (7.6%)\nIn all monitored\nmarine areas, over 99% of the waste analysed\nis made<\/strong> <\/strong>of plastic materials.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In particular, the most common waste monitored\nis unidentifiable plastic residues (72%), followed\nat long distance by sheets (7.4%),\nplastic bags (6.5%), polystyrene boxes (5.9%),\nplastic bottles (2.1%), nets and wires (2.1%), agglomerates of plastic and organic\nmaterial (1.5%) and, finally, plastic caps and lids (0.9%). Troubling data, confirming the results\nof the monitoring carried\nout by the University of Siena in the\nPelagos Sanctuary,\na protected marine area between the French and Italian coasts, where the average of floating waste is 194 per km2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Litter that trap, hurt or are ingested by aquatic organisms, that offer transport to alien species to reach environments outside the natural habitat, but the biggest problem is that the waste does not disappear. They remain in the environment for decades and are fragmented into smaller and smaller pieces, impossible to remove and to quantify: the microplastics (fragments smaller than 5 mm), which have an easier way to pass in the food chain contaminating it. A recent Tunisian report highlighted, for the first time, the presence and “Litter ingestion has been documented for 76 Mediterranean species belonging to different taxonomic groups including invertebrates, fish, sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals, and despite recent progress there is a need to fill current gap in knowledge”, said Maria Cristina Fossi<\/strong>, professor at the University of Siena and COMMON project partner. “The increasing urgency and complexity of interconnected social challenges, such as the Marine Litter, requires to be addressed through the consolidation of the interface science, politics and society, providing the necessary conditions to translate research-based knowledge into effective actions. Furthermore, the impact of the waste ingested by marine organisms should be assessed through integrated monitoring, both on commercial and protected species\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarine Litter in Italy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Impact on biodiversity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lebanon and Tunisia: the street\nof the waste<\/h3>\n\n\n\n