Fighting Ocean plastics with Pro Ocean

Every day a dedicated team set out for the beaches, estuaries and mangrove forests of southern Negros Oriental, Philippines to collect plastic before it can enter our oceans forever. This is our Pro Ocean team working under the auspices of Marine Conservation Philippines. Pro Ocean is a German non-profit ocean conservation organisation committed to combating ocean plastic pollution by conducting daily clean-ups, collecting any ocean plastic that has washed up on our beaches, and intercepting waste before it reaches the shore. This matches our own drive to clean up the seas, something we have been concerned about since the inception of MCP. At the moment of writing, we’ve managed to clean up more than 3 million pieces of plastic in just two years.

It is estimated that more than one million animals die each year because of plastics, whether from ingestion, entanglement, or the toxic buildup of harmful chemicals, and the negative impact has been recorded all over the world. No one is exempt from the dangers of plastic. In 2019, a Cuvier’s beaked whale washed up on the shores near Davao, Philippines, with 88 pounds of rubbish in its stomach, causing a slow and painful death. This tragedy prompted the people behind Pro Ocean to create the organisation and get in touch with us at MCP. Co-founders Bastian and Lukas set themselves the goal of reducing as much ocean plastic as possible from the province of Negros Oriental. This is made possible by employing local people to conduct daily clean-ups, who then dispose of the rubbish appropriately, and by recycling as much as possible.

Occasionally, some of our international volunteers get to spend a few days helping with the daily clean-ups. Ida Lunden from Sweden joined the team last month, and got to see how the team worked together to gather and sort as much rubbish as possible. She remarked afterwards that it was a “cool and rewarding experience that actually contributed to marine conservation.” She also added that the work was definitely a lot harder than she’d thought, and that it was really impressive how the team does it every day, always with such a positive attitude!

Although beach clean-ups are not the final solution to ending marine plastic pollution, it’s a place to start. Preventing plastics from entering nature to begin with is really the end goal and holy grail of the fight against plastics, but cleaning up the damage already done is important too. Just as importantly, it can inspire a change of behaviour in those involved, both directly and indirectly. Any donations made to Pro Ocean facilitate the permanent employment of the clean-up team, as well as power the upcoming educational campaign currently being co-created between Pro Ocean and Marine Conservation Philippines. This campaign is set to reach up to 1,600 school children in Zamboanguita and Siaton, and will teach about the importance of mangrove forests and why we should protect them. In future blogs, we will follow the children to take a child’s-eye view of these forests, and the new school programme.