LIGAO CITY — Some 150 kilograms of assorted trash were collected by participants in the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) Day held at the shores of Legazpi City on Saturday morning.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources, uniformed personnel, and volunteers collected plastic and glass bottles, tin cans, diapers, used tires, single-use plastic bags, clothes, cigarette butts, and other kinds of garbage at the coastal village of Rawis
“Aside from non-biodegradable trash, we were able to get 15 pieces of face masks and two face shields during the clean-up event,” Nonie Enolva, chief of Fisheries Resource Management Section of BFAR Bicol, said.
She said if these garbage are continuously dumped into the sea, marine species will be affected by plastic ingestion and entanglement.
“Although not much research is being made on microplastics, there is already proof that the microplastics are accumulated in the bodies of some fishes,” Enolva said.
She said they will also call on the Sangguniang Panlunsod to pass legislation banning the types of plastics they recovered at the activity.
The ICC is observed globally every third Saturday of September. It engages people to remove trash from their local beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris, and change community behaviors and activities that bring trash to the waters.
/MUF
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