CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE BIOSPHERE RESERVE OF MENORCA

, Pérez Marta.

In recent years various initiatives have emerged on Menorca to alleviate plastic pollution and in turn, these have contributed in bringing to the forefront this growing problem that is significantly affecting the island's coastal and marine ecosystems, and negatively impacting on some economic sectors. As a result, five entities that have been working for years to reduce the presence of plastic waste on the island have launched an alliance in 2020 in order to join forces against this issue. The Plastic Free Menorca Alliance is made up of GOB-Menorca, the Menorcan Institute for Socio-Environmental Studies-Observatory of Menorca, Per la Mar Viva, the Leader Illa Menorca Association and the Menorca Preservation Fund. Among the experiences that will be presented in the MICRO 2020 communication are; GOB Menorca's Commitment2020 project to reduce SUP being used by neighbors' associations and schools; the experience of the citizens' movement and coastal cleaning activities, which have collected over 13 tons of plastic, run by Per la Mar Viva; the Leader Illa de Menorca Local Action Fishing Group's campaign M̈ore fish, less plasticẅorking with local fish markets and fishmongers; the Socio-environmental Observatory of Menorca's research applied to raising awareness campaigns and; the role of the Menorca Preservation Fund as an actor in the promotion of all these initiatives through funding. The citizen response obtained in recent campaigns such as those mentioned here shows that there is a growing social concern. Even so, given the data on waste generation on the island, we are far from translating this concern into tangible changes in local plastic consumption habits and in the processes needed to reduce the impact of plastic pollution on our island. This has led to the creation of the Plastic Free Menorca Alliance.

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