DENR-CENRO Glan, stakeholders spearhead 2019 International Coastal Clean-up in Glan, Sarangani

GLAN, Sarangani -  Multi-stakeholders exemplify private-public partnership in a coastal cleanup as Department of Environment and Natural Resources DENR - Community Environment and Natural Resources Office CENRO Glan with stakeholders led the holding of the International Coastal Cleanup ICC which carries the theme: Battle for Litter – Free Seas”, September 21 in Glan town.

In observance of the largest one-day volunteer cleanup effort in the world, hundreds of participants from the community, government agencies such as the Philippine National Police, PNP- Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fire Protection, Municipal Government of Glan; civil society organizations headed by Guardian Brotherhood, Karancho, RD Foundation and business organizations led by RD Group of Companies and OPEC-MLhuillier, joined the cleanup at Brgy. Burias, Glan, Sarangani.

The third Saturday of September of every year has been declared as “International Coastal Cleanup Day” through Presidential Proclamation No. 470 dated September 15, 2003.

In his message, CENR Officer Abdul Cariga of DENR CENRO- Glan, thanked the volunteers who came even if the cleanup site is far from responding to the government’s call to its priority programs; the Manila Bay and Boracay Island rehabilitation efforts of the present administration.

CENR Officer For. Abdul D. Cariga speaks before the participants of ICC Sept. 21, 2019 at Brgy. Burias, Glan Sarangani Province.

Volunteers’ with their own sacks, sticks and tongs filled the coastline and require them to record using ICC data cards of every trash collected. A total of thirty-five (35) sacks of trash were collected and be brought to the municipal government office for proper disposal.

Stakeholders spread out to collect trash in Burias's coastlne on ICC Sept.21, 2019.

Collected trash shall be brought to municipal government for proper disposal, ICC 2019 Sept.21.

Recorded trash shall be recovered through the data cards to be submitted by the DENR -Central Office to the Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy group based in the US that helps formulate ocean policy based on peer reviewed science.

The said environmental advocacy group started the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in 1986 to engage volunteers in collecting marine debris from the world's waterways. The Philippines joined the advocacy in 2003. During the cleanup, volunteers act as "citizen scientists," tallying the items they find on data cards. The information is used to identify the sources of marine debris, examine trends in debris items, and increase awareness about the threats of marine debris.

Buria Brgy. Chairman Victor Siao (sitting,speaking) thanked the government for choosing their place to conduct the 2019 ICC, Sept.21.

“We are very thankful that the government chose Burias on this undertaking and we are proud that our barangay is considered as a sea turtle conservation area that would potentially become a tourist destination in the future”, Victor Siao, Barangay Chairman of Burias, said.

Burias is a fishing barangay in South of Glan, where a Pawikan (sea turtle) Center will be established soon.

The cleanup activity is a way of educating coastal communities on the ill-effect of indiscriminate disposal of waste on marine animals and their habitats. In addition, series of turtle nesting incidents were documented this year in Burias.