Ghana, first country to adopt a citizen plan to alleviate marine pollution

Ghana It is the first country in the world to adopt a “citizen science approach” to address the problem of Marine contamination for plastics, in collaboration with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

In a statement published this Tuesday, this institute based in Laxenburg, south of Vienna, summarizes the results of a new study on the Ghanaian project and presents it as an example that other countries could follow.

Due to the urgency of the problem of ocean pollution, the United Nations Assembly last year adopted a plan to combat this scourge, integrating it into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The study, published in the specialized journal Sustainability Science, presents the approach “innovative” why Ghana resorts to “citizen science” to compensate for the lack of national marine debris data.

This is a method of collecting and classifying data on plastic pollution and marine debris during clean-up campaigns carried out by community groups and local organisations.

“Citizen science is more than just plugging data gaps; “It is a powerful bridge between the public, the world of science and politics,” says Dilek Fraisl, lead author of the study and researcher at IIASA, in the statement.

“It not only raises awareness and inspires action to address challenges, but also encourages the voice of the people to become an integral part of our collective future”Add.

Ghana generates approximately 1.1 million tonnes of plastic waste per year, of which only the 5%, indicates the note.

To reduce pollution and increase recycling, the Ghanaian government has committed to sustainably managing plastic waste through an initiative called the International Coastal Cleanup, in collaboration with Ocean Conservancy (a Washington-based ocean protection organization). ).

As a result, Ghana has become the first country to officially report plastic waste density under the UN SDGs, using citizen science data.

“Ghana’s citizen science experience has provided valuable insights into how data generated by citizen scientists” They can provide information to the political class at the national level.

At the same time, “they contribute to global progress on the SDGs and offer a replicable path for other countries”, emphasizes the co-author of the study, Linda See. Plastic is already flooding the most remote places on the planet, according to National Geographic, and in the case of the Mediterranean Sea, it represents the 95% of their waste.

Many of these pollutants accumulate in the deep ocean, where they are ingested by marine organisms and introduced into the global food chain.