The 2012 Ocean Trash Index which is the compilation of data and reports from the 2012 international cleanups is now available.
“The Ocean Trash Index presents state-by-state and country-by-country data about ocean trash collected and tallied by volunteers around the world on one day each fall during Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup®.”
You can download a copy of the 2012 results now!
ICCS Pandan Mangrove Recce, 27 May 2013 by South Zone Captain Kelly Ong.
In support of our work at ICCS, my colleague Eric Kong has kindly offered to drive me all the way to the site again for the recce this year – thanks Eric!
We reached the mangrove around 3pm where there was a receding tide at 1.5m. The first thing which caught our attention was the clearing of the back mangrove vegetation behind bus-stop 25. What was the reason for that, I wondered?
Stumps and fallen branches of the trees were found in patches alongside the mangroves (see the photo below). This has made it easier to access the mangrove.
The trash load was medium-low – a great improvement since we first started cleaning up this mangrove patch some six years ago. But still an eyesore! We felt the itch to cleanup right away!
Lots of plastic bottles, food wrappers and containers, most likely washed in from the rising tide could be seen as usual.
Pandan mangrove will still be a good site for Organisers who want to present their participants with the added challenge of wading into the mud. Participants will have to walk mindfully to reduce impact to mangrove plant roots while removing the scattered trash.
A final recce nearer to the cleanup date with those who have chosen the site will be necessary to identity respective entry points.
Lets get ready for the action the 21st of September!
During recent recces by Zone Captains, we realised that some beaches were closed or had to be for safety reasons due to erosion or construction works in the area.
The closures affected three organisations with some 300 potential volunteers who had to be put on hold as we look for suitable sites for them.
Meanwhile, results of Site Allocation Exercise III (30 May 2013) were announced to the remaining Organisers last night:
Organisation name (estimated number) – Zone: Site
This brings the current participation number to 3,107 volunteers from 61 organisations.
There are still small sites available in various zones on the morning of 21 Sep 2013 and a large site (PR6) in the afternoon. Visit iccs-status.rafflesmuseum.net for details.
This time I did not meet with Zone Captains face to face but instead met online via LINE and with relevant the Google Doc open.
It took us two hours to get updated by the recent site recces, look for alternate sites as needed, make phone calls and confirm site allocations for various groups.
This is our 3rd Site Allocation Exercise and there will be a final one in end-June.
Next it will be time for the Organiser’s Workshops in July.
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 