Students help municipality collect 2 tonnes of waste from sea
dubai — As part of International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), Dubai Municipality officials and volunteers have collected more than two tonnes of waste over two days.
Attended by 200 school students, the cleanup operations covered 2km on the coastal strip of the protected beach on the first day. The second day saw cleaning operations by more than 300 volunteers and 30 divers at the Jebel Ali Marine Sanctuary in Ghantoot.
According to Environment Department officials, total waste collected during the two-day cleanup operations was two tonnes, of which 200kg was from the seabed.
Plastic waste accounted for 70 per cent of the total waste collected and the rest was other general waste such as timber.
Alya Al Harmoudi, Director of the Environment Department at DM, said the municipality’s participation, on its second consecutive year, aimed at raising public awareness on the importance of coastal and beach areas, in addition to highlighting the problems and threats to this fragile environment.
She said the most important threat to marine and coastal environments are the accumulated waste resulting from human activities.
“The event was organised at the Jebel Ali Marine Sanctuary to draw attention to the role natural reserves play in general and marine reserves in particular for its important role in maintaining ecological balance and protecting the many biological systems in them,” said Aisha Al Murr Al Muheiry, Head of Natural Resources Conservation Section.
More than 500 volunteers from academic institutions and the private sector joined the cleanup. The volunteers from public and private schools included students of four government schools, especially in the Emirate of Dubai — Al Khulafa Al Rashideen School, Al Ahamadiyya Model School, the Second of December School and the JSS Global School.
The Jebel Ali Marine Sanctuary includes 10 varieties of plants and 227 species of animals and is replete with protected biodiversity of coral reefs, sea grass and marine endangered species such as the dugong.
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