Volunteers clear tonnes of rubbish from Dubai wetland

About 1.6 tonnes of rubbish were cleared from a wetland in Dubai that was recently declared an area of international importance.

The clean-up of Jebel Ali Wetland Sanctuary was organised by Dubai Municipality’s Environment Department during the Ocean Conservancy’s 33rd International Coastal Clean-up.

More than 300 volunteers combed four kilometres of coastline at the weekend, collecting everything from rope and polystyrene to shoes and bottles.

About 80 per cent of the collected waste was made of plastic. Volunteer scuba divers also collected about 60 kilograms of plastic and glass bottles.

Alia Al Harmoudi, director of the environment department at the municipality, said a solution must be found to reduce the use of plastic, which inevitably ends up in the world’s oceans.

“Plastic waste is a critical issue and there is a need to find solutions to stem the tide of ocean plastic, including investing in waste management and its safe disposal, reducing single-use plastics, and re-evaluating how we consume plastic products,” Ms Al Harmoudi said.

“One way to curb this issue is by initiating clean-ups on our beaches.”

Jebel Ali Wetland Sanctuary was declared a protected area in 1998. Last month it was designated a globally significant conservation site by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Near Ghantoot, the wetland is home to more than 500 marine species, including the endangered mottled eagle ray, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, the dugong and the hawksbill sea turtle.