The Regional Director for Sea Affairs revealed in Horta that this year's edition of the "Azores Between Seas" campaign, held under the theme "Zero Waste in the Azores Sea," allowed the removal of about one tonne of marine litter.

The 2015 campaign featured nearly a hundred activities throughout the archipelago, coordinated by Island Natural Parks. According to Filipe Porteiro, the goal of this initiative is to "raise awareness for the problem of pollution in the sea and coastal areas," emphasising that the event "marked the beginning of the systematic collection of information on the waste collected in underwater cleaning campaigns and coastal areas.”

Filipe Porteiro spoke Monday night at the Azores Sea Observatory during the closing session of the sixth edition of this campaign, which marked the World Oceans Day. The government official revealed that a total of 24 underwater and coastal cleaning actions were held throughout the archipelago.

"So far, we have registered the results of 11 campaigns involving the participation of 290 volunteers, who collected about 380 kilos of plastic, 300 kilos undifferentiated waste, 240 kilos metal and 60 kilos of glass, making up nearly a tonne of marine litter," said the Regional Director.

Filipe Porteiro stressed that the issue of marine litter "is on our priority agenda," stressing that global bodies, such as the United Nations, regional organisations for the conservation of the oceans, such as OSPAR, the European Community, Portugal and the Region "have specific programmes to raise the awareness of the population for this scourge and mitigate its impact."

In his speech delivered at the closing session of the "Azores Entre Mares 2015," the Regional Director for Sea Affairs praised the "commitment of all those who contributed to the success of the campaign." In this context, the government official expressed his belief that this event "will reinforce the collective knowledge on the sea, promote sustainable maritime activities and raise the awareness of the Azorean population for the need to protect their marine environment for present and future generations."

Under the Action Plan for Marine Litter in the Azores - PALMA, the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs organised on all islands training courses targeted at environmental technicians for the Monitoring of Marine Litter Collection Campaigns in Coastal Areas and Submerged Areas. These initiatives aim to implement a standard methodology and compile information on coastal marine litter during cleaning campaigns, thus encouraging public participation from a perspective of "civic science."

The "Azores Between Seas 2015" campaigns features various activities, including the following: celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity in Velas, São Jorge; an ecological regatta on Santa Maria, where children and youngsters had the opportunity to build vessels from waste; coastal promenades on Corvo and São Miguel, visits to protected areas on Corvo, Terceira, Faial and Graciosa; the observation and registration of seabirds on Corvo, Flores, Graciosa and Terceira.

Following the extension of Cine'eco|Seia-Azores Festival, promoted by Azores Sea Observatory, this initiative also included the screening of films depicting the issue of marine pollution.

The campaign, which started on 20 May, the European Maritime Day, involved ninety entities, including regional science centres, non-governmental environmental organisations, nautical clubs, among others.

The final results of this campaign will be available at the address http://www.azores.gov.pt/GRA/SRRN-cigam/.