Sunday, April 18, 2010
Kenya rated highly in marine hygiene 4/18/10
By peter orengo
Kenya has recorded significant drop in the level of marine pollution according to the latest Marine Debris Index by Ocean Conservancy.
Kenya, one of the seven African countries covered in the report with more than 3,600 items collected at its coastline, had improved significantly since 2008, when 91,000 pieces of debris were collected. This represents a 2,400 per cent reduction.
South Africa recorded the highest number of debris, followed by Egypt. Other African countries investigated include Tanzania, Ghana, Togo, and Namibia.
Syringes, condoms, food wrappers, clothing, shoes, plastic and glass bottles are just some of the material found in Kenya’s coastal waters, says the Trash Travels: From Our Hands to the Sea, Around the Globe and Through Time report.
Marked improvement
Compared to 2,000 condoms collected in the Kenyan waters of the India Ocean in 2008 (being fourth highest in the world), only 104 condoms were collected last year.
Leisure and entertainment contributed to debris such as plastic and paper bags, balloons, beverage bottles and clothing, shoes, food wrappers and containers, straws and toys ending up in the Kenyan coastline. These pieces represented 75 per cent of total debris collected at 2,719 in number.
Seven million
"This report shows the commitment by Kenyans to taking environmental issues seriously. Trash does not fall from the sky; it falls from human hands —those hands have the power to stop it," says Fred Sewe, the local co-ordinator of International Coastal Clean-up, a group of volunteers concerned with the marine eco-system.
He added: "Our ocean is essential to the health of everything on the planet including our own. Whether we live near a coast or hundreds of miles inland, we are all connected to the ocean from the air we breathe to the food we eat."
The report is the world’s only state-by-state analysis of trash in water bodies. It was generated from the international coastal clean up, held in September last year.
Globally, Unites States of America recorded the highest number of items at 4,201,962.
The trash was collected and data recorded by the nearly 500,000 volunteers around the world who combed local beaches and waterways during the exercise.
Volunteers removed nearly seven million pounds of debris, from 108 countries with a common mission of improving the health of oceans.
Kenya has recorded significant drop in the level of marine pollution according to the latest Marine Debris Index by Ocean Conservancy.
Kenya, one of the seven African countries covered in the report with more than 3,600 items collected at its coastline, had improved significantly since 2008, when 91,000 pieces of debris were collected. This represents a 2,400 per cent reduction.
South Africa recorded the highest number of debris, followed by Egypt. Other African countries investigated include Tanzania, Ghana, Togo, and Namibia.
Syringes, condoms, food wrappers, clothing, shoes, plastic and glass bottles are just some of the material found in Kenya’s coastal waters, says the Trash Travels: From Our Hands to the Sea, Around the Globe and Through Time report.
Marked improvement
Compared to 2,000 condoms collected in the Kenyan waters of the India Ocean in 2008 (being fourth highest in the world), only 104 condoms were collected last year.
Leisure and entertainment contributed to debris such as plastic and paper bags, balloons, beverage bottles and clothing, shoes, food wrappers and containers, straws and toys ending up in the Kenyan coastline. These pieces represented 75 per cent of total debris collected at 2,719 in number.
Seven million
"This report shows the commitment by Kenyans to taking environmental issues seriously. Trash does not fall from the sky; it falls from human hands —those hands have the power to stop it," says Fred Sewe, the local co-ordinator of International Coastal Clean-up, a group of volunteers concerned with the marine eco-system.
He added: "Our ocean is essential to the health of everything on the planet including our own. Whether we live near a coast or hundreds of miles inland, we are all connected to the ocean from the air we breathe to the food we eat."
The report is the world’s only state-by-state analysis of trash in water bodies. It was generated from the international coastal clean up, held in September last year.
Globally, Unites States of America recorded the highest number of items at 4,201,962.
The trash was collected and data recorded by the nearly 500,000 volunteers around the world who combed local beaches and waterways during the exercise.
Volunteers removed nearly seven million pounds of debris, from 108 countries with a common mission of improving the health of oceans.
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