2,000 styrofoam pieces from the socially distanced mangrove cleanup at Sungei Loyang [Sun 18 Oct 2020]

The Cleanup

2,055 styrofoam pieces! Working in pairs with social distancing practiced within and between pairs, a small group of volunteers spent a large chunk of the allocated 1 hour on a Sunday afternoon picking up these glaringly white and ubiquitous pieces at the mouth of Sg. Loyang. In total, 3,440 pieces of marine debris were bagged into 19 bags with a combined weight of 76.3kgs.

Pieces of Styrofoam and other plastic pieces at Sg. Loyang mangrove

Consistent with previous years ICCS Data, Styrofoam pieces had the highest count. Other items in the top 10 were also predominantly made of materials derived from fossil fuels (i.e. plastic).

Top 10 Items collected and pictures of plastic trash collected by ICCS volunteers

41 fishing gear related debris were amongst the items collected. Some of the drift nets had trapped animals. Volunteers released a ghost crab but were too late to save 2 mangrove horseshoe crabs- having been trapped in the nets too long thus being unable to find food or eventually drying out.

1st two pics – volunteer freeing and releasing a ghost crab; 3rd Pic – dead horseshoe crab

Importance of Healthy Mangroves

Sg. Loyang Mangrove is located at the East end of Pasir Ris Park. It houses a variety of flora and fauna, and according to WildSingapore it is also home to the Bakau Mata Buaya, a “Critically Endangered” mangrove tree. Marine debris tends to get trapped in the mangrove roots, leading to potential smothering of said roots and consequently impacting the health of the mangroves and the marine biodiversity that relies on it. This is why clean-ups are important to support a healthy mangrove.

How to conduct a cleanup?

While covid-19 prevented our annual island wide cleanup to celebrate International Coastal Cleanup Day on every 3^rd Saturday of Sep in 2020, it hasn’t stopped beach cleanups, albeit in smaller groups of 5, to happen altogether. The public can join organized small group clean-ups through Little Green Men , Ocean Purpose Project , EastCoastBeachPlan or organize your own using the tools from Cleanpods. You can even conduct your own cleanup at Lazarus island with discounts on your next ferry ride! Do remember to check the ICCS Facebook page for prevailing guidelines, given the long-term nature of this pandemic.

The ICCS page has resources which you may find useful for organizing your own cleanups. And if you have data, you may share that on Ocean Conservancy’s CleanSwell App.

Volunteers with the collected trash

Thanks to NEA PHC and NParks for liasing with us to ensure the continued protection of our mangroves.

Keterina Chong
ICCS Zone Captain 

ICCS on Sat 21 Sep 2019 is cancelled; the 6am 1-hour PM2.5 levels are too high

Update, 7am – your ICCS event should not proceed as 1-hour PM2.5 readings are still above acceptable concentrations. ICCS will not be accepting data submissions for this day; safety first!

Dear Organisers, 

6am – I am suggesting Organisers cancel your ICCS event. As of this time, the 1-hour PM 2.5 levels are too high for sustained or strenuous work. 

Although the 1-hour PM2.5 has been declining between 4am – 6am, it may still be relatively high for the rest of the morning. And the NEA Haze Forecast states that “The 24-hr PSI is forecast to range between the high end of the Moderate range and low end of the Unhealthy range, and depending on the wind conditions, may enter the mid-section of the Unhealthy range”. See: https://www.haze.gov.sg

With this available information, we are cancelling the event. 

If you wish to participate on Sat 19 Oct 2019 instead, let us know at: http://tinyurl.com/iccs2019-haze
 
Or you may contact your zone captain directly. 

All the best and look after your health, everyone!

Cheerio!

Sivasothi
—
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
c/o Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum &
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore

Join us for a VERY tough cleanup on Sunday 14th October 2018 at Sungei Mandai Kechil mangrove!

Dear Friends,

Sungei Mandai Kechil mangrove is an important but unprotected mangrove forest in Singapore. Part of the Mandai Mangrove and Mudflats (MMM), this is a 15.4 hectare patch of mangrove swamp in the northwest of Singapore.

On Sunday 14th Oct 2018, with permission from SLA/PCG, the ICCS MMM team (Germaine, Adriane, Airani and Otterman) will be conducting a year-round coastal cleanup in the back mangrove there. We are calling out to experienced, hardy and dedicated coastal cleanups volunteers to join us on this mission!

This site is difficult: we have to be very careful to prevent impact, and a lot of trash is trapped in the thorny and dense vegetation of the back mangrove. There may be snakes, hornets and glass pieces. We will be careful patient and tenacious!

Participants will work as a team to help with the safety, site allocation, site security and coordination of trash transfer.

You must have appropriate footwear to join us as your safety is important.
Details and registration here: https://tinyurl.com/SMK-ICCS2018

All the best!

Cheerio!

Sivasothi

—
Coordinator,
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
c/o Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
& Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore

Volunteer opportunity for NUS‒NParks Marine Debris Project (Jul – Aug 2017)

We are looking for volunteers to assist us in the NUS‒NParks Marine Debris Project, which involves establishing a national baseline data of marine debris for Singapore. The role mainly involves testing data collection methods for marine debris from spot locations on several beaches on mainland Singapore.

You can join us if you are:

• Able to commit on weekday mornings and available on the 4th week of July and the first and second weeks of August 2017.
• Passionate for the environment and issue of marine trash.
• Meticulous, and highly organized.
• Comfortable with working outdoors.

 To sign up for the volunteer opportunity, please fill up this form and we will contact you shortly.

For any enquiries, please contact Joleen Chan (dbsjoch@nus.edu.sg)

 

Over the Horizon – Wang Ruobing’s art installation of plastic waste from shores of Singapore! (Until 3rd Apr 2016)

Over the Horizon is an installation work by the artist Wang Ruobing using plastic marine debris collected from Singapore shores at at Changi, Pasir Ris Parks, Kranji, Sungei Pandan, Seletar North Link, Lim Chu Kang and Pulau Ubin.

Her artwork can be viewed from 4th February to 3rd April 2016 at the Esplanade concourse. Wach the video here:

About the installation:

“The most commonly used everyday material since the beginning of the 20th century, plastic is non-biodegradable and often ends up floating in the oceans for years before breaking down into environmentally-damaging microplastic.

Over the Horizon is a site-specific installation dealing with plastic pollution. Made from plastic waste collected from Singapore’s coastlines, creating an elevated viewing platform on which audiences can observe kinetic plastic-waste waves, it explores this global issue, highlighting the interdependency of individual activities.

Artist/ curator/ researcher Wang Ruobing’s practice often explores how nature/environment is a source of disjuncture and a reflector mirroring people’s social, political and cultural struggles.”

In June last year, we received Ruobing’s request and arranged for her to participate in the Youth Day cleanup at Sungei Pandan mangrove in July. Some of the trash collected from this cleanup and other cleanups by passionate environmental groups in Singapore such as Sea Shepherds and the Nature Society (Singapore), were brought back by the artist, and given a second life in educating the public!

Awesome work, Ruobing!

Call for volunteers to coordinate coastal cleanups in Singapore for 2016 [deadline: 12 Feb 2016]

The volunteer coordinators of the International Coastal Cleanup in Singapore are searching for motivated individuals who would like to contribute to the betterment of the marine environment.

Volunteers will conduct evaluations of beaches and mangroves prior to cleanups, learn about marine life, liase with Organisers, help plan workshops, process data, conduct outreach activities as well as leading by example during beach and mangrove cleanups!

We are looking for Zone Captains and Site Captains who are able to commit to our 2016 Calendar of events. Check the full calendar of dates. If you fit the bill and can make the dates, sign up to join the ICCS Otters and we will be in touch! The first briefing session for new applicants will be on Fri 05 Feb 2016 in NUS at 7.00pm. There will be second briefing date in mid-February.

We are a dedicated team who have been coordinating the International Coastal Cleanup in Singapore for more than a decade. We work with Organisers from more than 60 organisations and institutions who lead some 4,000 volunteers to the beach and mangroves of Singapore in September, and with Organisers of Year-Round Coastal Cleanups.

We keep meetings and emails to a minimum in order to sustain this effort alongside our regular jobs long-term. So to work with us, you need to be responsive and dedicated. If unfamiliar, you will be introduced to our use of digital tools and field-preparation.

If you think this sounds like something you could do, we would be most happy to welcome you!

Do sign up here by 12 Feb 2016!

See you on the beach!

Cheerio!
Sivasothi
—
N. Sivasothi
Coordinator,
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
& Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore

What do ICCS Zone Captains do?

Shoreline recces

Workshop Tutorials

Just the few meetings!

ICCS Lecture dialogues

School Talks

Briefing volunteers

Coastal cleanup!

Getting stuck!

Every piece counts

Weighing trash

Feeling accomplished!

Washing gloves!

Data processing

Fellowship through year-round action

Showing our love for Singapore: National Day Coastal Cleanup @ Lim Chu Kang

7 August 2015, Friday — It was the first day of the Jubilee Weekend, and ICCS was down at Lim Chu Kang Beach and Mangrove celebrating National Day in our usual fashion; with a coastal cleanup! Altogether 48 volunteers showed our love for Singapore by removing 749kg of trash in 92 trash bags out of her Lim Chu Kang habitats.

Northwest Zone Captain Adriane Lee and I arrived on site earlier with the logistics, and did a quick recce before the participants arrived. Trash was abundant on the coastline, with various types of plastics hanging from branches and strewn under the trees.

 

 

Left: Plastic bags, raffia string, and a deflated balloon trashed!
Right: Plastic pieces strewn over the pencil roots of Avicennia sp.

  

Our hearts were filled with accomplishment at the sight of a mangrove relieved of trash so early that morning. We transferred trash bags to three Trash Collection Points (TCP) for weighing and formed a chain to transfer the weighed bags to the Trash Disposal Point at the edge of the jetty. This prearranged point with NEA’s Department of Public Cleanliness would be where the contractor would collect later.

Throughout the cleanup, we encountered mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) moults and we used the specimens to introduce these amazing mangrove critters to the cleanup volunteers. I also talked about other cleanup and guiding efforts conducted by NUS Toddycats. ICCS Coordinator Sivasothi aka Otterman rounded up the session with the conservation and research history of this site, the importance our remaining mangrove patches and the value of the morning’s effort at relieving the site of impactful trash.

 

Left: Talking about mangrove horseshoe crabs (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) using moults we found. Right: Cleanup volunteers listening intently to Sivasothi’s stories about Mandai and Lim Chu Kang mangroves in the 80’s and 90’s and how as an NUS undergraduate in the 80’s, he was was dismayed by the phenomenal amount of pollution there.

Otterman’s large Singapore Flag had disappeared this year – so the red and white shirted participants arranged themselves into a flag!

Do you see the flag?

Thank you to everyone for a sensitive and effective cleanup at Lim Chu Kang, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our nation’s 50th birthday!

Photos on Flickr.

ICCS 2015: recces at high difficulty sites with Organisers

25 July 2015 (Saturday) – Our Zone Captains have been receding high difficulty sites with Organisers.

North West Zone
Zone Captains: Adriane Lee and Germaine Leng

North East Zone
Zone Captains: Yang Yi Yong, Ng Kai Scene and Lim Chen Kee
Sites: Pasir Ris, Punggol, Sungei Tampines
Sungei Seletar, Sembawang, Seletar

Pulau Ubin Zone
Zone Captain and Intern: Sean Yap and Becky Lee

Tanah Merah Zone
Zone Captains: Joys Tan and Joleen Chan

ICCS @ Festival of Biodiversity and Ubin Day 2015: Calling for volunteers to spread the message of marine trash!

Festival of Biodiversity and Ubin Day are events held to celebrate Singapore’s native flora and fauna. By reaching out to members of the public, they aim to raise awareness of our diverse natural environment in Singapore. This year, ICCS will be having a booth at the both events, and we are calling out to passionate volunteers who wish to share about marine biodiversity, as well as spread the message of marine trash!

Adriane, ICCS’ Northwest Zone Captain shared about the curse of marine litter at last year’s Festival of Biodiversity with the help of his iPad props! Photo taken from: Otterman WordPress, 12 Jul 2014

This year, we will be focusing on 4 main aspects;

1. Marine Life in Singapore What are some examples of marine life in Singapore, and where can we find them?
2. The Threat of Marine Trash What are the main problems with marine trash? (e.g. Ingestion of plastics by marine life, entanglement of animals in discarded fishing nets and plastics, release of harmful chemicals into our natural environment)
3. What can we do about this? What are simple solutions, or small changes we can make in our daily lifestyles in the course of sustainability?
4. About ICCS and our coastal cleanups How you can go about joining us and what are our various social media platforms?

We will be having specimens of local marine life, posters, and interactive activities, and we are in need of passionate volunteers to contribute ideas, man the booth, and raise awareness on the impact of marine trash. There will be a workshop on the 20th of June that will familiarise you with the needed knowledge and skill-set to reach out to a larger audience.

If you would like to join us as a volunteer for:

• Ubin Day, check out this blog post for more information and sign up by the 27th of May.
• Festival of Biodiversity, sign up here by the 12th of June.

We look forward to meeting our education team!

“Operation WE (coastal) Clean Up” – 30 volunteers remove 892kg of trash @ Lim Chu Kang Beach

3 May 2015 – 29 individuals from all over Singapore hit Lim Chu Kang Beach in conjunction with “Operation WE Clean Up!,” a movement led by the Public Hygiene Council (PHC). Volunteers removed more than 892kg worth of trash, excluding many jerrycans, oil drums, large blue containers, and tyres!

 

Left: Hauling back the remnants of a sofa back to the trash collection point.
Right: The sight of volunteers dispersed throughout Lim Chu Kang Beach

Kudos to these two girls worked hard to remove all the pieces of plastic and styrofoam throughout the cleanup, and didn’t want to stop even when the cleanup was over!

Left: Maludin, our ICCS South Zone Captain!
Right: Individuals who tackled the back mangroves

 

The weighing of trash was efficient, and done surprisingly fast due to good coordination and teamwork!

We ended the cleanup session with a debrief, during which we discussed the 5 Gyres, sites of massive plastic accumulation in slow rotating currents within oceans around the world. Plastics in these places can remain there for decades to come. We also talked about microplastics in the environment, and explained the dangers of such small plastic microbeads in the oceans. These fragments, which can be broken down into sizes of less than 2mm, can be ingested by plankton. Plankton is ingested by fish, and as we consume seafood, the toxins from these plastics eventually find their way up the food chain onto our dinner plates.

A big thank you to everyone who came down to make Lim Chu Kang a much cleaner place, especially to those who have been attending our 2015 coastal cleanups regularly. We look forward to meeting everyone at our next cleanup!