Call to Action to Combat Plastic Pollution

Coastal Stewardship Campaign Against Plastic Pollution WWF-Türkiye (Wildlife Conservation Foundation) has launched the "Adopt a Beach Programme," a citizen science project aimed at collecting and classifying waste from Turkish coastlines according to a global methodology to obtain scientific data on marine pollution. A pilot implementation of the programme was conducted on 20 June at Erenköy Beach in Istanbul, where waste collection and classification work was carried out and the data obtained was evaluated. WWF-Türkiye (Wildlife Conservation Foundation) has launched the "Adopt a Beach Programme," which aims to obtain reliable information about the extent and variety of marine pollution by adopting 150 beaches representing all regions across Turkey's over 8,000 kilometres of coastline, and to provide open-source database information to relevant institutions and organisations. Anyone can apply to participate in the programme, which relies on the consistent and reliable participation of volunteer teams, and help create the largest dynamic waste monitoring map in Turkey. Under the scope of the programme, which is based on the "Adopt a Beach" citizen awareness and marine debris monitoring mechanism developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the marine debris monitoring process will be conducted according to the methodology used by the Greek Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). The Turkey launch event of the project, which will be implemented by WWF-Greece, WWF-Tunisia and WWF-Türkiye to contribute to resolving the plastic pollution problem in the Mediterranean Basin, was held on 20 June Tuesday, hosted by Marmara Sailing Club. In his opening remarks, Dr. Sedat Kalem, Director of Nature Conservation at WWF-Türkiye, addressed the threats posed by plastic pollution: "As WWF-Türkiye, we work to encourage sustainable practices while raising awareness about problems in nature conservation. Within this framework, one of our targets is to achieve zero plastic leakage into nature by 2030. One of the main ways toward this target is to end the flow of plastic pollution from cities into nature. Adopt a Beach is an initiative aimed at minimizing plastic and coastal pollution by collecting qualitative and quantitative data to monitor and address plastic waste in the seas. We invite volunteer groups, young people and schools across all four corners of Turkey to participate through citizen science in measuring and evaluating marine pollution. With the data obtained, our goal is both to bring about policy changes, particularly to reduce single-use plastics, and to increase public awareness and mobilise citizens." During the launch event, Togay Tanyolaç, Plastic Projects Specialist at WWF-Türkiye, provided information about how the programme works. As a pilot implementation, waste collection and classification work was organised at Erenköy Beach in Istanbul and the data obtained was evaluated.