ASCOA trains journalists to be advocates against marine debris and plastic pollution

By Nange Mbehni

As part of measures to limit marine debris and plastic pollution in Cameroon, journalists drawn from around the nation have been drilled on effects of marine debris pollution and plastic pollution under the theme “Media Advocacy for Sustainable Ocean and Coastline.”

The 2-day workshop organized by the Association for Community Awareness- ASCOA at their head office in Buea, South West region had environmentalists and seasoned lecturers with knowledge on ocean conservation from the University of Buea as facilitators.

According to biodiversity specialist Dr. Elvis Nkome Ngome, marine debris is solid material which is manufactured and abandoned in the marine environment. He further says plastic pollution on the other hand is linked to marine debris and includes plastics, derelict fishing gear and neglected or abandoned fishing vessels.

The South West Regional Delegate of Environment, Sed Ekwadi, pointed out that tis issue has been in existence for a very long time:

“We have always had marine pollution but nowadays, the most important thing we have to be discussing is plastic coming in and since plastics cannot decay easily, plastic pollution is now a challenge. That is why the UN Secretary says if nothing is done by 2050, plastics will be in our water more than fish. In order to combat this, we try our very best to manage our waste so that it will not end up in the waters.”

For the past months, sea food such as fish and shrimps have become scarce thereby causing an increase in their prices and others are not even available on the local market. Associate Professor in the University of Buea, department of Environmental Sciences, Dr Veronica Ebot Manga explains this phenomenon:

“Our waters are highly infiltrated by foreign ships that come right to the coast. I think that is one of the problems because they have high intensive fishing compared to most of our fishing activities here which are mostly characterized by low technology which therefore implies that the catch cannot be compared to what those with large boats can carry.”

As a proposed solution to handle the aforementioned problem, she has a proposal:

“Managing our coastline, limiting the infiltration of foreign shipping vessels right up to the coastline.” 

Dr. Elvis Nkome further says the causes of marine debris and plastic pollution are divided into man-made and environmental causes.

“Man-made causes are unselective disposal of plastics and many biodegradable materials, discharge of fishing gear, gaseous substances, boxes, broken engines, abandoned netting, and so on. Impacts of plastics pollution cannot be underestimated as it brings about ocean warming, ocean acidification, chemical pollution, de-oxygenation, invasive species, habitat destruction and fragmentation and also affects the world’s most important marine ecosystems,” he explains.

In order to combat marine debris and plastic pollution, the participants of the workshop were called upon to stand as ambassadors for a clean and healthy ocean through their reports on environmental conservation. ASCOA founder, Linus Ayangwoh Embe, says his choice of training journalists is due to the fact that they are stakeholders in environmental protection:

“It is very important to work on marine debris and plastic pollution and for many years we have been doing this work and we thought it necessary to involve the media personnel, journalist, so that they can assist us to advocate against pollution.”

Ayanwoh says communication is key insolving the issue of marine pollution:

“We will collaborate and communicate with communities on how to dispose their waste and mostly coastline communities because they are based on the coastline and it is very important that we educate them, so the journalists are going to help us too in educating these communities.”

The 2-day workshop ended with the participants and over 50 volunteers from Buea cleaning Down Beach Limbe as part of activities to keep the environment clean and healthy.

Association for Community Awareness-ASCOA, is a non-profit making organization with headquarters in Cameroon and offices in the United Kingdom, USA and Kenya. Its goal is to enhance the quality of life of under-served communities and promote sustainable development in Africa and the world at large. ASCOA’s efforts range from fostering environmental protection which cuts across plastic pollution and marine littering, increase awareness on HIV/AIDS and combatting related stigma, engage women in empowerment, child support, peace building and cater for intrnally displaced persons. Over the years, this organization has had over a thousand volunteers who have assisted them in their clean-up projects.