NGOs cleanup Lagos beach, seek volunteers
Volunteers have concluded plants to cleanup the mess strewn around the famous Regal Seaview Beach in Lekki area of Lagos State.
The sanitation is scheduled to take place this Saturday, September 19, WakaAbout reports.
Non-governmental organisations, Beach Samaritans and the Kids Clean Club said it needs more volunteers for the exercise.
“We are doing this for our environment, for our tourism and for our collective health,” says Beach Samaritans Co-Founder and environmentalist Ms. Adesola Alamutu.
“This will be our sixth cleanup activity in the past one year, and we are delighted that we have had the support of hundreds of volunteers and some sponsors thus far.”
Venue: Regal Seaview beach, Lekki, Lagos.
19th September 2015.
9am- 4pm
Dress Code: Blue, Green, Yellow or Red tops (T-shirts) #iccb2015
— kidscleanclub (@kidscleanclub) September 4, 2015The Saturday exercise will be held to commemorate the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), now in its 30th year.
The ICC — the world’s largest volunteer effort to cleanup waterways and the oceans — is an initiative of the Ocean Conservancy, founded in 1972 to ensure that the world’s ocean stay free of avoidable waste.
Nigeria has more than 800km of coastline, much of it extensively littered.
In the last 25 years, an estimated 144, 606, 491 pounds of trash was removed from beaches worldwide.
Ocean Conservancy said it is unfortunately that “what we see dirtying beaches and floating on the ocean’s surface is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Much more lies unseen beneath the surface and far away on the open water — but that doesn’t make it any less important.”
Researchers say around 80 per cent of marine litter originates on land, and most of it is cannot naturally decay.
According to the Natural Resources Defence Council, “plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy.”
A 2014 report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says plastic pollution causes at least US $13 billion of damage each year the fishing, shipping, tourism, and coastlines-cleaning industries.
